13 days before Germany and France face off in the first group match at the UEFA EURO in the Allianz Arena, the two football nations played the first of their pre-tournament friendly matches on Wednesday evening - here's the overview:
Germany draw on Müller's comeback
Bayern block: In Neuer, Süle, Kimmich, Gnabry, Sané and Müller, over half of the Germany team were FCB players.
Despite a strong Bayern contingent, the German national team could only manage a 1-1 draw against Denmark on Thomas Müller's comeback. In addition to the returnee, national coach Joachim Löw picked keeper Manuel Neuer, Niklas Süle, Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sané and Serge Gnabry in the starting line-up in Innsbruck. Jamal Musiala was on the bench for the full 90 minutes. Leon Goretzka was not ready to play again after his hamstring tear.
Gladbach's Florian Neuhaus (48') put Germany deservedly into the lead shortly after the kick-off for the second half, before Leipzig's Yussuf Poulsen (71') scored the equaliser. The axis of the German champions had provided the highlights, especially before the break, but they failed to capitalise. Müller could not get past Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel after strong build-up work from Kimmich (12'), Sané just missed the target a little later (28') and Gnabry hit the crossbar after a fine solo (44'). Ultimately, Germany made too little of their superiority.
"It was intense, there were a lot of good things. But we also had a phase in the second half where we couldn't get into one-on-one battles," said Müller, describing the first game after his return to the national team.
France beat Wales with extra man
Benjamin Pavard started at right back for France.
With three Bayern players in the starting eleven, France posted a deserved 3-0 (1-0) victory in the friendly against Wales. Benjamin Pavard and Lucas Hernández formed the full-back pair until they were substituted at half-time. Corentin Tolisso pulled the strings in midfield, making his first international appearance since mid-October for the Équipe Tricolore. Kingsley Coman was substituted on after just over an hour.
France had an extra man for a long period after the red card for Neco Williams (26'). Karim Benzema initially missed the penalty after the 20-year-old Welshman's handball in the box, but Kylian Mbappé scored to put the favourites in the lead (34'). Antoine Griezmann made it 2-0 immediately after the break (47') and later Ousmane Dembelé made it 3-0 (79').
Break for Lewandowski as Poland draw
Bundesliga record scorer Robert Lewandowski had a rest during the week. On Tuesday, Poland drew 1-1 (1-1) with Russia in Wroclaw - but Poland coach Paulo Sousa gave his captain a day off, and he watched the 90 minutes from the bench. Jakub Świerczok gave the hosts an early lead (4'), but Wjatscheslaw Karawajew equalised a quarter of an hour later to make it 1-1 (20').
Here is an overview of the friendly matches for the Bayern players ahead of the Euros:
