London, Sunday

No goalscorer. The wrong system. Players played out of position and a manager who has lost his touch – Germany were roundly written off after their opening Euro 2020 defeat by France.

That 1-0 loss left them facing the real prospect of crashing out of a second successive major tournament at the group stage, a threat that only intensified when they fell behind to Portugal on Saturday.

But the Germans hit back in style to fire four goals past the defending champions and put their route to the last 16 back in their own hands.

They face Hungary on Wednesday, while Portugal are left needing something against France – with all teams having everything to play for in a thrilling finale.

Manager Joachim Low led Germany to World Cup success in 2014 but a group-stage exit four years later, the removal of senior players and some stuttering form since has led to question marks.

Forward Thomas Muller was one of the older players discarded by Low in 2019 before being recalled for the tournament, and was delighted with their revival against Portugal.

“We are allowed to feel a little euphoria,” the 31-year-old said. “It’s just fun playing in this atmosphere. The cauldron is boiling.

“Now we have the three points, we are well in the tournament and have it in our own hands. We mustn’t get carried away and become arrogant, but we must believe in our quality.”

European classic

Low, who is leaving his post after 15 years this summer, added: “We spoke about a few things in the past few days.

We were still looking for balance after the France match and knew that we had to add a gear to create more chances.

“We fought brilliantly and showed great morale. We had a lot of good attacks against a really strong opponent.”

“Germany are alive and kicking,” said commentator Ian Dennis on BBC Radio 5 Live, “They came into this game under real pressure. The talk was about their earliest exit [at the Euros] in 20 years, they fell behind – but they have responded so well.”

Former Northern Ireland midfielder Neil Lennon agreed, saying Germany are a “brilliant tournament country”.

“Low has so much experience. He knows what he is doing,” he said. “There are always knee-jerk reactions – he will be well aware of all that. He knows the players better than anyone. 

Germany turned this game into a European classic. That was an immense game of football.”                   – BBC