Munich (Germany) (AFP)

The French favorites, jostled by a catchy and aggressive rival, made Germany bite the dust (1-0) at the end of an ultra-tense match, enough to launch their Euro and reward their noisy supporters who came they also win Tuesday in Munich.

In this group F "of death", where Portugal beat Hungary (3-0) at the end of the afternoon, any false start could prove to be crippling for the Blues and their rivals from the Mannschaft.

And it is the men of Didier Deschamps who best digested the event, despite the waves suffered and the blows received.

Announced as the favorites of the Euro by a number of experts, opponents and even internally, the world champions were able to round their backs with a more impressive defensive rigor than their offensive animation, in an evening when Karim Benzema n never really weighed.

- Pogba's delight -

The release started from a sublime outside foot of Paul Pogba, in all the good shots, that Lucas Hernandez took over in first intention from a strong center in the opposing area.

The unfortunate Mats Hummels, back in the selection after a long sidelining, catapulted the ball into his own net (20th).

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What could have been the first goal under the shirt struck of the cock of Hernandez, the French defender of Bayern Munich, thus turned into the first "csc" of the history for Germany in a Euro, according to the chain of ZDF public television.

As a symbol, the torments of the Germans often came from Hummels, the executioner of the Blues in the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup (1-0), competition won by the Mannschaft at a time when it dominated the football world.

Since this setback, the French have gotten into the good habit of taming the neighbor from beyond the Rhine, prolonging their invincibility on Tuesday with a sixth game in a row without defeat: two draws and now four wins.

However, in front of its some 14,000 supporters, Germany did everything, up to the very limit of the regulations, to crack their successors in 2018.

Defender Antonio Rüdiger, who had urged his partners to "just be dirty" in front of the visitors, has repeatedly walked the talk, especially when he pretended to bite Pogba before half-time.

The gesture infuriated the Manchester United midfielder, but the referee remained unmoved.

- Gosens as Schumacher -

More impressive still, his friend Robin Gosens knocked out.

Benjamin Pavard by returning like a bullet in the French defender of Bayern (59th), reviving the memory of Sevilla-82, this semi-final of the Lost World Cup (3-3 after, 5-4 tab) after the exit on stretcher by Patrick Battiston, violently hit by goalkeeper Harald Schumacher.

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The Blues have since been able to reverse history and the shock of Tuesday, with its own dramaturgy, could also enter the gold book of France-Germany.

Before kick-off, an incident could still have relegated football to the background.

An activist of the environmental association Greenpeace, arrived above the stadium in a microlight-type machine with "Kick out Oil" written on his wing ("outside the oil", in English), failed to crash into the stand after hitting a cable.

After his arrest, and the evacuation of a person struck down after the incident, the game quickly started on high ground.

The showdown was largely played in midfield and in this game, Pogba and his two acolytes N'Golo Kanté and Adrien Rabiot were imperial.

The fiery trio with Benzema, Griezmann and Mbappé did not really produce the expected sparks, despite the lightning acceleration of the last named, also very united with his partners in the defensive folds.

The 22-year-old world champion warmed the gloves of Manuel Neuer (17th), dropped Hummels without managing to materialize (36th) and scored a goal, refused for an offside position (66th).

The incessant activity of the Parisian could have paid off after having again mystified Hummels, but the fault in the area of ​​the defender of Dortmund was surprisingly not whistled (78th).

And shortly after, his perfect service back for Benzema was useless, the goal of the Madrilenian being invalidated for offside after resorting to video assistance (85th).

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After this epic fight, the Blues leave fully inflated in their quest for the World-Euro double.

It will be necessary to materialize on Saturday (3 p.m.) against Hungary in Budapest.

© 2021 AFP