34′ Ginter arrows a cross towards Gnabry, who has no chance as Semedo towers above him to head away. The Portuguese are defending incredibly deep but, for the moment, remain relatively untroubled.
32′ Pepe clashes with Havertz in the centre circle and ends up going down. After some quick medical attention from the physios, the centre-back returns to his feet and looks fine to continue.
31′ Gnabry collides with Dias inside the area and the centre-back wins the foul. Pepe waves an imaginary yellow card, however, referee Taylor disagrees and insists play goes on without cautioning the Bayern Munich forward.
30′ Carvalho slams Kroos to the ground and the midfielder goes short from the resulting free-kick. Muller seeks out Havertz, who from the back post struggles to keep the ball alive and Dias intervenes.
29′ This is the first time Low’s men have conceded first in three consecutive European Championship matches since a run of five across Euro 1996 and 2000.
28′ Havertz shoves Carvalho to the floor and offers Santos’ side a free-kick in a good position on the left flank. Fernandes and Guerreiro debate before the left-back delivers towards the penalty spot. Jota finds space but he can only head way over the crossbar.
27′ With the first drinks break out the way, play resumes with Patricio’s goal-kick. The goalkeeper goes short before Guerreiro looks long for Ronaldo. Hummels intercepts and Germany return to methodically looking to breakdown their opposition.
26′ Gnabry twists and turns on the right-hand side before floating a cross towards the near post. Hummels misses the initial header but no-one has gambled at the far post and the opportunity fades away.
25′ Ginter whips in a cross from deep and Dias miscues his left-footed clearance as he skews out for a corner. Kroos delivers from the left flank but the chance comes to nothing as the Portuguese defence clear towards the right-hand channel.
23′ CLOSE! Portugal go short from the corner and Guerreiro aims for the far post with his left-footed cross. Dias escapes the attentions of his marker but can’t head past Neuer as he redirects the ball wide of goal to the right. The centre-back may feel he should be doing better from there.
22′ Jota dashes inside and sets his sights on the far right corner. The Portuguese man’s effort gets deflected and Neuer can’t stop Santos’ men from getting their first corner of the game.
21′ Santos’ men are content with sitting deep and inviting their opponents to play through them. Muller attempts to do so by flicking on for Gosens, however, Semedo is there to hook away a clearance.
20′ Neuer has to be quick off his line to launch a clearance as Silva and Jota race towards the German area. Despite barely seeing the ball, Portugal are looking dangerous any time they get near their opposition’s goal.
19′ Ronaldo has scored his 19th goal at the World Cup and European Championships combined; no European player has ever scored more across the two competitions (level with Miroslav Klose).
18′ CHANCE! A good first touch sees Gosens sneak in behind Semedo to the left of goal. The left wing-back attempts to drill a low left-footed effort towards the near post, where Patricio gets down well to save. The Portuguese goalkeeper would have been disappointed if he didn’t save that but it goes down as an opportunity nevertheless.
17′ Low’s men try to instantly respond, however, Muller’s pass is overhit and Patricio gets a goal-kick. The Germans look slightly stunned that, despite their impressive start, Portugal lead at the Allianz Arena.
15′ Silva leads the counter-attacking charge from Germany’s corner, working out to Jota, who makes it to the left of goal before unselfishly squaring to Ronaldo. The Portuguese captain has a simple tap-in to put Santos’ men ahead and he makes no mistake.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Goal
15′ GOOOOOOALLLL! 1-0 PORTUGAL! Ronaldo rises the highest to head away Kroos’ corner and Portugal set off on a rapid counter-attack. Silva races down the right-hand channel before chipping to Jota, who draws the goalkeeper out before rolling to his right. Ronaldo has an open goal as he taps-in from inside the six-yard area with his right foot to open the scoring. The Portuguese captain started and finished that move!
14′ Kimmich profits from Patricio’s wasteful pass and looks long for Gnabry, who heads to his left for the run of Havertz. The chance comes to nothing but the Germans win the first corner of the game on the right-hand side.
13′ Gosens powers down the left flank before pulling back for Kroos on the edge of the area. The midfielder aims for the bottom left corner, however, Dias is there to make a crucial, sliding block to protect Patricio’s goal.
12′ Portugal’s last victory against Germany was in the group stages of Euro 2000 – a 3-0 win, courtesy of a Sergio Conceicao hat-trick, the last time Germany have conceded 3+ goals by the same player in a major tournament game. Since then, Low’s men have won their four meetings with today’s opponents, all at major tournaments.
11′ It has been a fairly good start from Germany, who have dominated possession and exploited the right-hand side on a number of occasions already. Low’s men need a result here and, so far, they are taking the game to Portugal.
10′ SAVE! Havertz wanders inwards from the right-hand side, making it to the D before aiming for the bottom right corner with his left foot. Patricio saves the initial effort, parrying to his left before Gnabry attempts to create a follow-up chance. The goalkeeper does well, however, to bounce back and he does just enough to put off the German forward before his defence recover and intervene.
8′ Fernandes seems to have made it past Hummels and into the German box but the centre-back recovers and intercepts. The chance, however, wouldn’t have stood as both Fernandes and Jota were offside from the first pass.
7′ Gnabry makes it past two or three tackles as he reaches the byline on the right and crosses towards the six-yard area. Muller is waiting to pounce, however, Patricio intervenes and removes any potential danger.
5′ NO GOAL! Muller looks to have handled the ball in the middle but referee Taylor plays on. Kimmich receives possession out wide, crossing towards the back post, where Gnabry can’t reach the initial chance. Gosens flies in at the far post, smashing a left-footed volley into the bottom left corner but the goal doesn’t stand as Gnarby was offside from the first cross. VAR checks and sticks with the original decision.
3′ Ginter’s pass is wayward and forces Kimmich backwards, Guerreiro pressures his opposite man and Portugal get their foot on the ball for the first time in this game.
2′ Gosens finds some room down the left-hand side and plays to Havertz, who sees his cross deflected away from danger at the near post by Pepe. Low’s men regain possession immediately as Kroos dictates the early exchanges.
1′ With the national anthems out the way, Anthony Taylor blows his whistle to start proceedings!
This will be the fifth meeting between Portugal and Germany at the European Championship; only Italy and Spain have faced each other on more occasions in the tournament (6). It will also be the sixth encounter between the two teams at major tournaments since Euro 2000 (4 at Euro, 2 at World Cup), the most between two European nations over that period.
Just like his opposite man Santos, Low also names an unchanged starting-11 for the Germans’ second Group F clash. Despite scoring an own goal on his international return, Hummels remains at centre-back, flanked either side by Ginter and Rudiger. Havertz and Muller start in behind Gnabry once more, meaning Sane has to stay patient as he waits for another chance from the bench.
After the 3-0 win against Hungary, Santos names an unchanged starting line-up. That means Ronaldo, who smashed numerous European Championship records last time out, leads the line in front of Jota, Fernandes and Silva. Further back, scorer from the first game Guerreiro retains his place at left-back, while Dias also starts at centre-back but he needs to be careful as he is just one booking away from suspension.
SUBS: Marcel Halstenberg, Christian Gunter, Florian Neuhaus, Niklas Sule, Emre Can, Robin Koch, Bernd Leno, Kevin Volland, Kevin Trapp, Timo Werner, Leroy Sane, Leon Goretzka.
GERMANY (3-4-2-1): Manuel Neuer; Antonio Rudiger, Mats Hummels, Matthias Ginter; Robin Gosens, Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan, Joshua Kimmich; Kai Havertz, Thomas Muller; Serge Gnabry.
SUBS: Goncalo Guedes, Pote, Renato Sanches, Ruben Neves, Jose Fonte, Joao Palhinha, Anthony Lopes, Joao Moutinho, Rafa, Andre Silva, Diogo Dalot, Rui Silva.
PORTUGAL (4-2-3-1): Rui Patricio; Raphael Guerreiro, Ruben Dias, Pepe, Nelson Semedo; William Carvalho, Danilo Pereira; Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Jota; Cristiano Ronaldo.
Germany gave a decent account of themselves in their first game at Euro 2020 but still ended up 1-0 losers to world champions France. Mats Hummels’ own goal proved the difference and leaves Joachim Low’s men needing a positive result against Portugal to bolster their hopes of a second-place finish in Group F. The Germans have recent success in this competition, having reached the semi-finals in the last two tournaments and they are looking to reach the knockout stages for the fourth time in succession.
Despite a rather underwhelming performance for large parts against Hungary, Portugal ran out 3-0 winners in their opener in Budapest. A win here would secure their place in Euro 2020’s last-16 stage and would also confirm a top-two finish in Group F, given Hungary’s earlier draw with France. Fernando Santos’ men are on a seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions but they have lost their last four games against Germany.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Euro 2020 Group F fixture between Portugal and Germany.
Diogo Jota
Assist