Germany vs Poland match report: Flaws come to the fore for world champions in first stalemate of Euro 2016

Germany 0 Poland 0: There can be a strange looseness to this Germany team, an absence of direction, a complacency of easy passes, and all of this and more was on show again at the Stade de France

Germany's Sami Khedira (No 6) tackles Poland striker Arkadiusz Milik (Getty)

On Sunday in Lille Germany showed their best qualities, the qualities that won them the 2014 World Cup and make them so favoured in France. Beating Ukraine 2-0, Germany played incisive intelligent football and when they were ahead they managed the game to perfection.

Here in Paris, we saw the opposite story, the obvious flaws to this champion side, the reasons to suspect that they will not do this July what they did two years ago. Because there can be a strange looseness to this Germany team, an absence of direction, a complacency of easy passes, and all of this and more was on show again at the Stade de France in this 0-0 draw in which they were the less impressive side. Germany, for all their possession, did not move the ball with enough intensity or create enough chances, with only a disaffected Mario Gotze, who is no real striker, starting up front.

Poland were the better team, more organised, more focused and far harder-working. Their football may not have the same modern flow as Germany but their 4-4-2 is still a very effective system, especially when the players are as regimented as they were here. They left little space in behind their defence, or in between their lines, and Germany did not know how to cope.

This was no great red bus-parking, though. Poland in fact created the best chances, especially in the second half, and on another day Arkadiusz Milik would have won them the game 2-0. Robert Lewandowski was expertly shackled by Jerome Boateng, but this is certainly not a one-man team. They are a tribute to coordination and hard work.

This point puts both Germany and Poland on four each, ensuring their passage through to the last-16. Both teams will expect to win their third game, but with Poland set to face a twice-beaten Ukraine and Germany an enthused Northern Ireland, it may well be the Poles who win the group. And on this evidence that would be quite appropriate.

The problem with being world champions is that it forces you to make the game, to come out and play rather than waiting for the opposition to make a mistake. Poland ended up having the better of the second half but their first instinct here was to wait, frustrate Germany, make sure they did not concede a first-half goal that would change the feel of the whole game.

Joachim Low is under pressure to replicate their World Cup success (Getty)

Sensing the importance of an early goal to transform the obligations, Germany flew out of the traps and should have taken the lead before Poland had the chance to organise. Julian Draxler darted down the left and hung in a cross for Goetze, who won the header but could not direct the ball under the cross-bar.

It was just one fourth minute chance but there is always the danger with Goetze that his confidence will drop and that is what happened here. The problem for Germany is that he is their nominal striker, the man whose movement is meant to create the opportunities for Draxler, Thomas Muller, Mesut Ozil and the rest. But if he is not moving then Germany are blunted. Toni Kroos was the best player of the first half, unsurprisingly, but even he is only in the team to start moves, not to finish them.

The best striker in the whole tournament is Lewandowski, and as the first half went on Poland were more confident in their ability to get him the ball. The sharp gasp from the whole Polish end when Lewandowski made one half-chance, blocked by Mats Hummels, shows his hero status, and he is able to do things that no-one else can.

Jonas Hector vies for the header with Lukasz Piszczek (Getty)

It barely needs to be said that Lewandowski would have given Poland the lead with the chance that Milik missed with the first move of the second half. Kamil Grosicki broke down the right and crossed to the near post, but Milik misjudged his run and dive, barely touching the ball as it flew past him.

But if Germany had any lingering sense that they could cruise through this game, that was long gone. Goetze missed another clear chance at the other end, but the flow of attacks were more in favour of red shirts than white. Lewandowski then dragged a free-kick back to Milik, who shot into the side-netting. When Jerome Boateng had to bound across the pitch to make a goal-saving tackle on Lewandowski, the most impressive single piece of play in the game so far, Germany realised that they were up against very serious opposition indeed.

That is why Joachim Low made the first change, replacing Gotze with Andre Schurrle, a more dangerous, quick and confident forward. Had Low made that change when handing in his team-sheet to Uefa earlier in the evening, it might have been a different kind of night.

It was Poland, now, who were pouring forward and Germany who were forced back to wait on the break. Milik found Grosicki, and the return pass was perfect only for Milik to fail to make a good connection with it. Although Ozil forced Lukasz Fabianski into a good save, Low knew he needed more firepower and so brought on Mario Gomez, his best old-fashioned striker, for the last 20 minutes. Germany had all the possession, as Poland retreated back into their half, ending the game as they started it. But Germany did not have the skill or the patience to break through, and left with a point which sends them through, but does not do much more than that.