Northeast of Munich, near the end of metro line 6, the Allianz Arena glittered in the morning sun on Thursday. It is the home of Bayern Munich and has long symbolized the power of domestic football.
That red-white monopoly – a series of eleven consecutive Bundesliga titles – was ended this year by the newcomers from Bayer Leverkusen. With Euro 2024 starting here, the German team will look to take the first step towards bucking a less savory trend of their own.
Germany has not won a knockout match in a major tournament in France since 2016. They will begin their attempts to put that right on Friday night against Scotland.
In many ways the Scots are the perfect opponents on a night like this. They will bring color, life and presence. In recent days, their supporters have arrived in Bavaria by the thousands.
On Thursday afternoon, Munich’s beautiful Marienplatz slowly turned blue and white and by mid-afternoon the first impromptu football matches of the summer – visitors versus locals – began to break out. Whether anyone was able to keep score by then was open to debate. Bartenders in Munich don’t often serve beer in modest quantities. But we hope this will be a theme for the coming month.
Julian Nagelsmann’s German side will aim to launch a European Championship at home in style
The host nation will face Scotland in the opening match of the tournament at the Allianz Arena
Scotland fans will bring colour, life and presence as thousands descend on Bavaria
As the Premier League prepares to be torn apart by its increasingly ugly feud with their own champions Manchester City, European football could do with a return to some kind of innocence and beauty.
Even if only for a few weeks, it would be a welcome illusion and the sight of thousands of football fans getting out of planes and out of cars and campers certainly plays into that sense.
It has been, let us not forget, a while since we have organized a tournament as simple and traditional as this. The last World Cup was in the winter in Qatar. Few supporters made the trip. The previous 2020 European Championship was greedily and foolishly spread across Europe by UEFA and then torn apart by the Covid pandemic. When it was played a year later in 2021, fans were only allowed in limited numbers.
As for the next World Cup in 2026, it will be in America, Mexico and Canada.
So this one has a bit of a traditional look and is all the better for it. Munich is already home to the Scots. In Dortmund, 50,000 Albanians are expected to be present on Saturday to watch their team play against Italy at Signal Iduna Park. Albania has even suspended parliament to allow prominent politicians to make the trip.
As for the English, their supporters will make the Ruhr their home as Gareth Southgate and his players take on Serbia, Denmark and Slovenia in Gelsenkirchen, Frankfurt and then Cologne.
In the industrial heart of Germany, England will hope to make this tournament something easier on the eyes. Southgate certainly has the players to justify England’s title as one of the pre-tournament favorites and if they can get the ugly stuff right – the thing where they don’t have the ball – then they should only go to have to come home. tournament.
A look over the six groups reminds us again of the friendliness of the English draw. Spain participates with Italy and Croatia. The Netherlands belongs to the group of France, and Belgium has to face difficult opposition in the form of Romania and Ukraine.
Gareth Southgate has the players at his disposal to fulfill their status as one of the pre-tournament favourites
France is still led by the remarkable Didier Deschamps, and includes Kylian Mbappé in their ranks
Veteran shot-stopper Manuel Neuer remains Germany’s goalkeeper at the age of 38
There are two notable teams here and they are France and England. France – still led by the remarkable Didier Deschamps – is not much different from the team that would have won the last World Cup had Argentina goalkeeper Emiliano Martinez not played extra time in Doha 18 months ago.
They won seven of their eight qualifying matches to get here and only conceded three goals. They lost twice to Germany in friendly matches and drew 0-0 at home against Canada last Sunday.
However, France is a tournament team. Their exit at Euro 2020, on penalties against Switzerland in the last 16, was a bit erratic – that can happen – and there’s no reason to think they won’t pose the biggest threat to England’s attempts to secure their 58- year-old tournament duck.
The host nation will be intriguing to watch. A mix of old and new – Manuel Neuer is 38 and will make his 120th appearance on Friday evening – with standout Bayern talent Jamal Musiala in danger of being overshadowed by Leverkusen’s 21-year-old Florian Wirtz.
The Spanish selection now includes 16-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal, a player of whom so much is expected that there is a buyout clause in his contract with Barcelona with an additional one billion euros.
With 24 teams present in Germany during the first thirteen days of the group stage, this is a tournament that will once again feel a little too big. To make 24 16 for the first round of knockout matches, the top two from each group will advance, plus the four best third-placed teams.
Young stars Jamal Musiala (left) and Florian Wirtz (right) could light up the tournament for the hosts
So much is expected of Spain’s 16-year-old sensation Lamine Yamal entering the European Championship
That may have a small impact on the danger in the early stages, but could very well offer a team like Scotland – and other outsiders such as Ralf Rangnick’s Austria – a route to the part of the tournament where anything can happen.
This has sometimes been a tournament that favored the outsiders. Greece emerged victorious in 2004. Denmark triumphed in 1992. Outliers like these make England’s ongoing battle for relevance even harder to understand.
Southgate says he will be out if he doesn’t win this one, so the pressure on the England manager is clear and this time it is self-imposed. He won’t be the only one. If we don’t win on Friday evening, Germany boss Julian Nagelsmann will feel it too.
In major summer tournaments, there is no such thing as failing with honor.
