England get valuable lesson from Scotland's defeat to Germany as ITV cause anger in Euro 2024 opener
Germany thrashed Scotland in the Euro 2024 opener
REUTERS/GETTY
Scotland now have it all to do in their final two group games after failing to pull off an upset against Euro 2024 hosts Germany in the opening match of the tournament.
Steve Clarke's side were always up against it with Germany one of the favourites to win the tournament.
But any hopes of picking up a valuable point were dashed inside the opening 20 minutes when goals from Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala gave Germany a comfortable lead to silence the Tartan Army.
GB News looks at five things learned from the opening match of the tournament.
Germany thrashed Scotland in the Euro 2024 opener
REUTERS/GETTY
- England lesson
Germany knew a fast start against Scotland was necessary to silence the Tartan Army and they got that with Florian Wirtz's excellent strike in 10 minutes.
Every team at the Euros will be desperate to pick up points in their opening game with most proving to be cagey affairs.
That can often lead to surprise results with underdogs taking advantage of nerves among the favourites as they push for a winner.
Germany avoided all of that with their early goal and England will no doubt want something similar when they face Serbia on Sunday.
- ITV cause anger
The Euros will once again be split between ITV and the BBC this summer and the former haven't got off to a popular start.
Their coverage for Scotland's game against Germany started 90 minutes before kick-off, but the amount of adverts and lack of focus on the game to start with angered many viewers.
The ITV team including Laura Woods, Ian Wright ad Roy Keane are popular figures among TV viewers but the ad breaks in the preamble before the match causes too much disruption for football fans.
The BBC team of Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and co will get their chance in the hot seat to give the fans what they want tomorrow for Italy's game against Albania and they will also broadcast England's opening game against Serbia on Sunday.
- McTominay importance
Scotland are at their best when Scott McTominay is able to get on the ball more, but he was nowhere to be seen in the first half.
The Manchester United midfielder was Scotland's hero in the qualifiers as he scored seven goals and commanded the middle of the pitch.
However, he was unable to get on the ball against Germany and was also ineffective defensively.
Scotland will need their main man back to his best quickly when they face Switzerland on Wednesday in a must-win game.
Ryan Porteous was sent off for his challenge on Ilkay Gundogan
REUTERS
- Che Adams role
A lone figure up top with little support alongside him, Clarke will need to figure out a way to create more opportunities for his main striker.
Germany's resolute defensive unit of Antonio Rudiger, Jonathan Tah, Joshua Kimmich and Maximilian Mittelstadt comfortably dealt with anything Scotland threw at them.
Adams' last goal for Scotland came two years ago in a 4-1 win over minnows Armenia and that didn't look like changing against Germany.
Goals were Scotland's problem at the previous European Championship and Clarke now has two games to try and work out how to fix it.
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Germany lived up to the hype in the opening game
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- Billy Gilmour vs Ryan Christie
Clarke opted for the width that Ryan Christie provides Scotland over Billy Gilmour's central presence and it was arguably his side's downfall in the first half.
There was often too much of a gap between Scott McTominay and Callum McGregor in midfield and Wirtz exploited that space for Germany's opening goal.
Musiala was also able to get on the ball far too easily in the middle of the pitch as Scotland struggled to get on the ball.
It was a surprising gamble from Clarke, but one that ultimately didn't pay off and something that he may have to change for their second group game.
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