Stuttgart. Bitter for the German team: Antonio Rüdiger would miss a possible semi-final due to a yellow card suspension.
Antonio Rüdiger didn’t know what to do after 14 minutes: several Spanish attacking players had advanced into the penalty area of the German national team in the round of 16 of the European Championship, and Dani Olmo, who came on after a few minutes, was getting closer and closer to the sixteen-meter limit. Then Rüdiger intervened wildly and brought down the RB Leipzig attacking star. Result: the first yellow card of the game. And that could have been very costly in a supposed semi-final with German participation. Because Rüdiger would be absent due to a yellow card suspension. It was the Real Madrid central defender’s second yellow card in this European Championship.
+++ Spain vs Germany: the game live +++
After Jonathan Tah in the round of 16 against Denmark, who was replaced by BVB professional Nico Schlotterbeck, national coach Julian Nagelsmann would again be without a central defender. He would then have to rebuild his defensive line. A new one.
Kroos is lucky: foul on Pedri goes unpunished
The German players started the quarter-final against Spain in extremely robust form. In the first few minutes of the game, Toni Kroos in particular was very strong in midfield and let the Spanish star Pedri fall to his knee. The FC Barcelona attacking player injured his thigh so badly that he had to be substituted after just a few minutes of play. He limped off the field and Dani Olmo came on. Kroos, who has been officially without a club since July 1, left without warning. Even a few sequences after this foul, Kroos was lucky that a kick to the foot by a Spaniard went unpunished.
With a bit of bad luck, the German star, who won the Champions League with Real Madrid just a few weeks ago, could have been sent off with a yellow and red card just minutes later. However, England referee Anthony Taylor showed mercy and spared the 34-year-old from any warnings.