World Champions Germany take on Euro 2016 hosts France as two superpowers clash in Marseille. Will Antoine Griezmann score yet again as France triumph? Or can Thomas Muller finally score in the European Championships to help Germany win?
The second semi-final promises to be a fantastic clash between two titans of the modern game.
Germany are three-time winners of the European Championships, with their opponents and hosts France having previously won two titles. Germany are the defending World Champions, having won the World Cup in 2014 by beating Brazil and Argentina on their way to doing so.
They also beat France in the quarter-final. Now, one stage further in Euro 2016, the two countries clash again in what is the same fixture that was played on the night of the tragic Paris bombings.
Germany enjoyed a routine progression to the quarter-finals of this competition, winning their group stage with ease, beating Ukraine and Northern Ireland as well as tying 0-0 with Poland. In the knockout round, they destroyed Slovakia 3-0, raising hopes back in Germany that this team could go 'back-to-back' in international tournaments. But the quarter-final against Italy was incredibly demanding, and Germany only progressed after a dramatic penalty shoot-out. Watch some of the highlights from an amazing game of football here:
France enjoyed a progressively more encouraging path to the semi-final. They also topped their group, having beaten Romania 2-1 and Albania 2-0 before tying 0-0 with Switzerland in a pattern not dissimilar to Germany.
Once into the knockout round, France came from behind to beat the Republic of Ireland 2-1 thanks to two goals from their talismanic forward Antoine Griezmann. In the quarter-final, they encountered the surprise package of the tournament in Iceland and wiped the floor with them. With goals from Olivier Giroud, Griezmann again and Dimitryi Payet, the French eventually won 5-2. Check out the action here:
Bookies are as undecided about who might win this game, with the current odds bang level at +175 for each side to win. Oddly, you can back Germany or France to win by one goal at +300, so with a tight game expected, we'd go with that.
But the match is highly likely to go to extra time and maybe even penalties, making the +210 on offer for the tie in 90 minutes more than appealing. Germany to open the scoring and France to level it by the end of 90 minutes is +700 and again looks great value.
Joshua Kimmich looks a fine prospect at right-back for Germany and we think he'll develop into a top-class defender. He is, however, amazing odds of +1100 to recieve the first booking of the game.
He will likely be coping with a rampagaing Payet and/or Griezmann down his side of the pitch. France would be mad not to target his inexperience and whether or not they make Germany pay in terms of the result, you can definitely damage the bookies! If you are looking for a plausible long shot, then Antoine Griezmann to get the opener and the match to finish 2-2 is a massive +15000 and does not look out of the realm of possibility.
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