Paris (AFP)
Clash of the titans!
The French world champions challenge Germany on Tuesday in Munich for one of the most attractive posters of the first round of the Euro, while the Portuguese title holders face Hungary and its supporters, authorized en masse at the stadium.
At 9:00 p.m. at the Allianz Arena, one of the most memorable matches in football history will take place.
And already a decisive match in group F, the most challenging of this Euro, the first two of which, and perhaps the third depending on his performance, will join the knockout stages.
For the Germans, it will be a question of taking their revenge for the semi-final of five years ago, won 2-0 by the Blues in Marseille.
And also to move away the atmosphere of the end of reign around the Mannschaft, with a coach Joachim Löw whose last competition after 15 years in office.
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The men of Didier Deschamps, in full confidence, must assume their status as favorites.
Kylian Mbappé, Karim Benzema, Antoine Griezmann, Olivier Giroud ... on paper, the attack of the reigning world champions is stratospheric.
But it will take a foolproof mind to tame an opponent who has caused the Blues so much nightmares throughout their history.
Seville's lost semi-final at the 1982 World Cup, the founding trauma of French football, that of Guadalajara four years later, lost again ... and, closer to us, the quarter of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, where the Tricolores had come up against an impenetrable German defense.
Exactly, the veteran Manuel Neuer will always be there in goal.
And if the central defender Antonio Rüdiger was not there at the time, he took the measure of the opponent, calling his teammates to play "dirty, not always nice, nice" ...
At the Euro, neither of the two selections has ever lost for its opening match since the introduction of the group stages.
In the other match of the day, the Portugal of Cristiano Ronaldo, reigning European champion, must avoid a misstep against the Hungarians (18:00), in principle the most accessible opponent of the group.
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The Portuguese, deprived of their defender Joao Cancelo positive for Covid-19, will find the atmosphere of full stadiums, forgotten for a year and a half of pandemic.
And not necessarily in their favor ... the Magyars play at home and in front of a packed Budapest stadium.
The enclosure is the only one in the competition, organized in 11 stadiums across 11 countries, not to apply spectator gauges as a health precaution.
Group F
1st day:
Tuesday in Budapest (6 p.m.): Hungary - Portugal
Tuesday in Munich (9 p.m.): France - Germany
2nd day:
Saturday in Budapest (3:00 p.m.): Hungary - France
Saturday in Munich (6 p.m.): Portugal - Germany
3rd day:
June 23 in Munich (9 p.m.): Germany - Hungary
June 23 in Budapest (9 p.m.): Portugal - France
© 2021 AFP