Three observations from Germany’s exhausting 2-0 win against Denmark at EURO 2024

Germany survived a hard fought challenge from Denmark in the EURO 2024 Round of 16 and won the match 2-0. For the first time since 2016, Germany will move on to the quarterfinals of a major tournament. On Friday, July 5th, Germany will face the winner of tomorrow’s match between Spain and Georgia.

Germany opened the match with a 10-minute lightning attack that forced Kasper Schmeichel into four fantastic saves, while also surviving a powerful header from Nico Schlotterbeck that was overturned by VAR. The mighty Norse god Thor was in attendance and responded by delivering a 25-minute lightning delay of his own in the first half.

To start the second half, Denmark found themselves on the wrong side of two VAR decisions. In the 53rd minute, Kai Havertz stepped up and found the side netting on a penalty kick to claim the lead. In the 68th minute, Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala buried a breakaway goal to put the game out of reach.

Germany is slowly learning how to attack vertically

There was a long stretch in the first half where Germany defended well and created 4v4 and 5v5 offensive situations. Every single attack was rooted out by Denmark because the Germany failed to make the correct pass or was shamelessly dispossessed.

In the second half, Havertz made a brilliant touch to create acres of space behind the Danish backline, but chipped it wide (we’ll have to ignore Musiala getting dragged down in the box). Minutes later, Musiala found a similar breakthrough. This time, Musiala opened up his body early and delivered a world class finish that rendered the goalkeeper useless.

Opponents continued to sacrifice numbers forward, leaving themselves vulnerable on the counterattack. Germany must continue to convert these opportunities as the competition will only get tougher.

Hats off to Julian Nagelsmann

The young German head coach is managing this squad to perfection. Most fans would have benched Kai Havertz in favor of Niclas Füllkrug, while also leaving Leroy Sane on the bench. Schlotterbeck filled in fantastically for Jonathan Tah and proved that he is more than capable if Antonio Rüdiger’s nagging injury keeps him out of action for a match.

After the long weather delay and a subsequent halftime break, Nagelsmann made sure his team was mentally prepared for the second half. Nagelsmann is clearly blocking out the outside noise to guide his team through this tournament.

Something needs to change with officiating and VAR

Why are referees even on the pitch? This is a bit of an overreaction, but VAR has made the on-field officials hesitant to make obvious calls and imbue rhythm to the match. The assistant referees don’t even call offside. Did Denmark actually gain an advantage by having a single toe ahead of the defender on the disallowed goal?

Maybe FIFA and UEFA should abandon the hybrid system that is frustrating fans and go one way or the other. Either empower the referees to make every call and only overturn the obvious stuff in goal scoring opportunities (which is what it’s supposed to be), or have two officials cover the sidelines with whistles instead of flags and let the cameras do the work.

This is obviously a ridiculous suggestion that will never be approved, but something needs to change to bring back the human element and a little common sense to the officiating piece of the game.

Bring on the next victim in Germany’s quest for the first EURO title since 1996.

Looking for more thoughts and analysis on Germany’s 2-0 victory over Denmark? Good, then we have you covered with our Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show where we cover the starting lineup selection, a rundown of the scoring and substitutions, and takes on how it all played out. You can get the podcast on Spotify or below: