No one on the bench could stay in their seats any longer. The German players jumped up in celebration and sprinted across the pitch to Florian Wirtz. The 21-year-old had just scored the equalizer in the last minute, which saved the national football team in extra time. For a long time, it had looked like a narrow defeat against Spain in the Stuttgart Neckarstadion. But shortly before the end, Wirtz got the 52,000 spectators celebrating.
The situation was all the more dramatic when the Spanish team took the lead again in the 119th minute. Mikel Merino’s goal to make it 2-1 (0-0) sealed the German team’s exit from the quarter-finals of the European Championship at home.
Against Spain, Julian Nagelsmann once again came up with a surprise in his line-up. He initially chose Emre Can in defensive midfield rather than Robert Andrich. While Leroy Sané and David Raum were allowed to start again after the round of 16 victory over Denmark, Jonathan Tah returned to the starting eleven after serving a yellow card suspension and replaced Nico Schlotterbeck. On the other hand, coach Luis de la Fuente trusted the same eleven that had won against Georgia last Sunday.
The German team started the duel with their arch-rivals extremely nervously. In the early stages, inaccuracies increased and the timing was lacking in the duels. After just eight minutes, the Spaniard Pedri had to be substituted due to injury after Toni Kroos arrived far too late and hit the 21-year-old on the knee. A few seconds after kick-off, the FC Barcelona player tested Manuel Neuer in the German team’s goal with a shot from the edge of the box.
While the Spaniards disrupted the hosts’ build-up early on, they sometimes only started running past the halfway line. This tactic worked in the Spaniards’ favor in the first quarter of an hour, as they repeatedly played through the chains and gained a lot of space in the middle. After captain İlkay Gündoğan lost the ball, Antonio Rüdiger could only stop Dani Olmo, who had come on for Pedri, with a foul.
Slowly, the German team seemed to have found its feet. This was also due to Kroos, who often dropped back to calm the German team with his secure build-up play. There were also good approaches to attack.
However, the Spaniards remained dangerous when they won the ball and Fabián Ruiz had another shot from a promising position in the 19th minute. Can in particular, who Nagelsmann had previously said had a speed advantage over Ruiz, was often a step too late.
Germany had its first good opportunity after twenty minutes. After a change of sides, Joshua Kimmich was able to cross from the right and found Kai Havertz in the middle. However, he did not put enough power behind his header. Havertz was also in the spotlight in the 35th minute when he took a long ball from Rüdiger well, but then again lacked the necessary power in the finish.
Shortly before half-time, the 25-year-old lost the ball while moving forward, which Olmo took advantage of and fired a powerful shot from around 25 meters. Neuer just managed to deflect the rebound to the side.
German team only becomes dangerous after falling behind
During the break, Nagelsmann reacted to his team’s weak first half and brought on Robert Andrich for Can and Florian Wirtz for Sané. The first chance after the restart belonged to the Spaniards. Lamine Yamal set up captain Álvaro Morata well, who turned against Tah in the penalty area but shot over the goal from five meters.
A few minutes later, it happened: Again, the German team’s allocation in the backcourt was wrong, so that Olmo was able to push the ball unhindered into the left corner from sixteen meters, following a pass from Yamal, and put Spain in the lead.
As a result, the German team rose up and played forward with significantly more tempo. However, it took a while before they had another chance to score: after a cross in the 71st minute, substitute Niclas Füllkrug passed to Andrich, but the Leverkusen player was stopped by a well-parried Unai Simón. Shortly afterwards, the right post saved the Spanish team after a shot by Füllkrug.
The German team now received even more support from the stands than they already did and then threw everything forward. When everything looked like a defeat, Florian Wirtz struck and scored the 1:1 after preparatory work by Kimmich, which saved the DFB team and took it to extra time.
It was a duel of equal equals, with neither team able to create any real opportunities. Shortly before the end of the first half, Mikel Oyarzabal shot past the far post, then Wirtz narrowly missed.
After the second half, there was again excitement in the Spanish penalty area, this time due to a handball by Marc Cucurella after a shot by Jamal Musiala. But referee Anthony Taylor was on the right track and decided against a penalty.
After that, it was an open exchange of blows – with Spain coming out on top. After a cross from Olmo, Merino rose up and headed the ball into the net to make it 2-1.