Scotland crushed by Germany at Euro 2024 after horror tackle as Clarke and MacPhee clash

Scotland were outclassed from start to finish on Friday night as they were thrashed 5-1 by Germany at the Allianz Arena in the opening game of Euro 2024. The host nation did the damage early on to leave Steve Clarke’s side with an uphill battle to qualify for the knockout stages.

Germany needed just 10 minutes to open the scoring as Angus Gunn failed to keep out Florian Wirtz’s sweeping shot. And Jamal Musiala then lashed in a second nine minutes later.

Arsenal star Kai Havertz added a third from the penalty spot in stoppage time at the end of the first half after Ryan Porteous had been dismissed following a reckless two-footed tackle on Ilkay Gundogan. And Niclas Fullkrug came off the bench to add a fourth midway through the second period. Antonio Rudiger turned the ball into his own net to gift Scotland a consolation, before Emre Can struck a fifth for Germany. Express Sport takes a look at four talking points from the showdown.

Gundogan lucky after Porteous horror tackle

Gone are the days where players can remove both feet from the ground and jump at the ankles of their opponents, even if they win the ball. And spectators were left wincing at Porteous’ horror tackle on Gundogan on the stroke of half time.

Inexplicably, the referee had to check the challenge for a second time to ensure his decision was the right one. But there was no way the centre-back was ever going to stay on the pitch after that.

“This is a really bad challenge, this is a poor challenge from him,” exclaimed Arsenal hero Ian Wright at half-time. “I think the best thing is that Gundogan’s not seriously injured here because you can see he’s off the ground and everything. That could have been really bad."

Scotland naivety exposed

Scotland had only ever won two European Championship matches ahead of their clash with Germany. And their naivety in tournament football was exposed right from the off.

Clarke’s men allowed Germany to dictate the tempo of the game as well as patterns of play as Scotland were pushed around the pitch at will.

They were reckless in combat, gifting their opponents free-kicks in dangerous areas and were guilty of errors across the pitch.

“They look shell-shocked,” stated Roy Keane at the interval. And Graeme Souness added: “Everything that could have gone wrong, has gone wrong. You don’t make a good start, sloppy first goal…a catalogue of mistakes.”

Scotland lack gameplan and identity

Scotland didn’t appear to have any identity in or out of possession. They didn’t make themselves hard to break down, they didn’t show any flair and they didn’t offer much in attack.

And ITV co-commentator Ally McCoist summed it up in the second half as he said: “[Scotland have] got to tighten up defensively and find a way to threaten the opposition’s goal.” He later explained. “Germany have been really excellent, Scotland really poor.”

Clarke and MacPhee have words

Moments before Germany’s fourth goal of the night, with Scotland struggling for ideas, Clarke’s team had the chance to put the ball into the penalty area after being handed a free-kick. But they decided to play short as possession was eventually turned over.

And in Scotland’s technical area, Clarke and his set-piece coach Austin MacPhee were seen exchanging words over the incident.

MacPhee had been described as “Scotland’s secret weapon” in the German press ahead of the clash. But the Tartan Army offered nothing from dead ball situations until the goal at the end.