EM 2021, Germany-Hungary: Löw and the search for tactics

Status: 6:54 p.m.| Reading time: 5 minutes

In Hungary one had to wait 67 years for this opportunity to take revenge. That’s how long ago the last competitive game against the DFB selection was. It was the 2: 3 in the final of the soccer world championship in Switzerland. On July 4, 1954, Germany achieved its first World Cup triumph as a great outsider through the goals of Max Morlock and twice Helmut Rahn – the “miracle of Bern”. Although there have only been three competitive games so far, Hungary is firmly anchored in German football history.

On Wednesday (9 p.m. / ZDF, Magenta TV and in the WELT live ticker) the German national team will face the Hungarians without a win in the final group game. It will also be a “special game” for the Hungarian defense chief Willi Orban. The 28-year-old central defender of RB Leipzig was born and raised in Germany. But that’s not the only reason. It is also “special because there is so much at stake for us,” said Orban. Only with a win could the co-host stay in the tournament and reach the knockout round. After a clear opening defeat against Portugal (0: 3), a hard-fought draw (1: 1) against world champions France followed.

The Hungarians’ style of play was striking, with which they deprived the French of their great strength, the game over the wings, for large parts of the game. Hungary play on a 3-5-2 system. If the wing runners are played, the Hungarian full-backs Attila Fiola and Gergö Lovrencsics or Loic Nego advance immediately, attack their opponents as soon as the ball is accepted and put them under pressure.

Joshua Kimmich and Robin Gosens, should they play in the third group game as expected, cannot go into dangerous dribbles or runs in depth, as they did against Portugal. But that was exactly what made the national team’s game so strong recently. The Hungarians will try again to shift the game to the middle and to get into dangerous counter-situations by winning the ball in midfield. At the same time a weakness of the DFB-Elf and a strength of the opponent. An unfavorable mix.

Hungary with a speed advantage

Because, on the other hand, you can’t give the Hungarian flank players too much space on the offensive either. A thoughtless and half-hearted forward movement by Benjamin Pavard led in the second group game to the lead against France by Fiola. Once in the back of the defensive chain, he was unstoppable and transformed safely. Hungary will also try to create scoring chances against Germany. Because the DFB-Elf is very susceptible to counterattacks. Both the Portuguese lead and both French offside goals fell on the counterattack.

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Since Gosens and Kimmich move up a long way in offensive actions, there is often no protection on the defensive. In the best case, this should be done through the three-man chain of the DFB-Elf. But apart from Antonia Rüdiger, the central defenders have a clear speed disadvantage compared to the Hungarian players. Technically, they are not at the level of Joachim Löw’s players, but often with advantages in terms of speed, especially in the central midfield and in the central defensive position. Against France and Portugal, Hungary showed that they can take advantage of exactly that.

The team of coach Marco Rossi is again clear underdogs against Germany, but that is good for their style of play. Against France they played half as many passes and only had a third of the ball possession. It was still enough for a draw. But with all the necessary and appropriate respect for the strengths of the Hungarians, there is also this with the opponent. “I believe that Germany is currently the most complete team in the group,” Orban’s assessment. “You have an incredibly good mentality and are very well organized,” praised the 28-year-old. In addition, there are individual single player qualities that are “outstanding”.

France also stumbled upon the Hungarian fans

But there is also something that could give Joachim Löw and his team hope. The Hungarians are robbed of their greatest strength in Munich. For the first time, one of their games does not take place in the domestic and sold-out Budapest Puskas Arena. More than 55,000 visitors, mostly Hungarian fans, were in the stadium for both games and made a lot of noise. For France, a factor in the surprising draw.

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“That was a difficult game with the fans. We are no longer used to a full stadium. We didn’t hear each other, ”said France’s offensive star Antoine Griezmann after the final whistle. But the support of the Hungarian supporters did not consist exclusively of cheering calls for their own team. French footballers have been verbally abused by some fans. When the black striker Kylian Mbappé was on the ball, monkey noises could be heard from the stands. Attacker Karim Benzema, who has Algerian roots, was also molested. Uefa has initiated an investigation into “possible discriminatory incidents”.

And the Munich police also anticipate that so-called problem fans will arrive for their team’s game on Wednesday. 1500 officers will be on duty. “Based on current knowledge of the situation, we are reckoning with around 2,000 Hungarian fans. According to the current state of knowledge, this should include around 200 members of more problematic fan associations, ”said a police spokesman to WELT. However, the Munich police currently have no concrete information about planned crimes. Racist or homophobic statements should be stopped immediately and “consistently take action against the perpetrators” – unlike in Budapest.

For Joachim Löw it is now a matter of finding the right balance: between an offensive game to overcome the Hungarians’ compact defense and good protection against the dangerous counterattacks. The national coach has a clean slate against Hungary and was able to win both games, before the 2010 World Cup and before the 2016 European Championship. The last defeat occurred in 2004, in the anniversary year of the miracle of Bern. At that time, the Hungarian selection, led by Lothar Matthäus as coach, won 2-0 in Kaiserslautern.