Germany dominated the ball and avoided some dangerous situations to beat Hungary 2-0 in the second group stage match of Euro 2024. Bayern Munich's Jamal Musiala scored in the 22nd minute and FC Barcelona's Ilkay Gundogan scored in the 67th minute to put the game out of reach for the team.
Germany held Hungary back, controlled the pace of the match and won in almost every category of statistics. Germany had almost twice as many shots, but Hungary actually created a greater number of chances than Germany.
Germany have officially secured a spot in the Round of 16. Germany will travel to Frankfurt for their third and final group stage match against Switzerland on Sunday, June 23.
Bayern Munich players are performing brilliantly once again under the leadership of Julian Nagelsmann
Jamal Musiala blew the opposition away for 70 minutes. Manuel Neuer made two big saves from free kicks in the first half that changed the course of the match. Joshua Kimmich was brilliant on the right flank and finished the match with a goal line clearance. Even Leroy Sane overcame his poor display against Scotland, forcing Hungary goalkeeper Peter Gulacsi to do his best to stop a goal in the 75th minute.
At 36, Nagelsmann is in his fourth head coaching assignment. Most importantly, he is clearly learning from his experiences and helping this German team play at a great level.
Kai Havertz is the new Timo Werner
Werner is an aggressive player who has a unique ability to frustrate defenses, get in behind the back line, and win one-on-one chances. After making a name for himself in the Bundesliga by scoring double-digit goals in several seasons, Werner moved to Chelsea but failed to take his game to the next level in the Premier League.
Now everything remains true even if you put Havertz in Werner’s place.
In this tournament team, Havertz's role is to occupy the center back and create more space for Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala. He's doing a great job as a decoy marker, but Germany's midfield is also creating solid chances for Havertz. In the 11th minute, Havertz made his way through the box, but the ball fell to the goalkeeper.
The real crux of the problem is that the defence does not fear Havertz. On the contrary, Nicolas Fulkrug pulls the entire Hungarian backline with him to create space for Gundogan in the middle of the box.
Hungary’s “bend but don’t break” strategy was effective, but not enough
Scotland played a 5-4-1 formation against Germany in their first match of Euro 2024, trying to contain the midfield and play a high line. Scotland were down by 3 goals at halftime and had to play with ten men.
Hungary played very deep and did a good job of creating space all over the field. On both goals, Germany drew the defense wide and quickly sent a dangerous, unpredictable ball back into the center of the field.
Hungary's tactics were largely effective and they would have been applauded had they scored from the aforementioned free kick opportunities in the first half.