The bottom half of the bracket in Euro 2016 was always setup to be a disaster, and both France and Germany know all about it now. These two teams have had to fight through the bracket of doom, and now the only thing left standing between these teams and the Euro 2016 Final is a match against the other in Marseille on Thursday night.
Soccer Odds at BookMaker.eu
Germany +190
France +175
Draw +200
Over/Under 2 (over -115)
ODDS ANALYSIS
There really isn't a heck of a lot of difference between these two teams right now, and the oddsmakers are having a really tough time lining this game as a result. France is the very slight favorite at PK -118 and +175 on the moneyline, but it wouldn't be very surprising to see Germany ultimately favored by the time this kicks off.
The totals have actually gotten a lot higher in this tournament than it felt like would've been the case at the outset. The total of 2 with -115 vig on the over shows just how defensive these two teams are expected to be in a big match like this.
TOURNAMENT UPDATE
To say that France finally looked like France on Sunday is an understatement. A 4-0 first half against Iceland was a tremendous statement to the rest of the field. The end result was an emphatic 5-2 victory. Granted, playing against Iceland wasn't a duel like Germany had to go through against Italy, but an emphatic quarterfinal win in the Euros is an emphatic quarterfinal win in the Euros.
The French have now taken care of Ireland and Iceland in the knockout rounds of Euro 2016, and their 4-1-0 record in 90 minutes is the best in this field.
Germany has had a ridiculous road to reach this point. After going 2-1-0 in the group stage, the team had to deal with Slovakia and Italy to get to the semis. The Germans weren't always the best in that 120 minutes with the Azzurri, but they were able to finish off the job in a penalty shootout.
LIVE BETTING
The big issue we've had with Germany most of the way in the Euros is its lack of ability to score on the run of play against top flight teams. Mesut Ozil looked fantastic in his 65th minute goal against the Italians, but he's going to need some help in this match.
France's offense has been fantastic across this whole tournament, and that four-goal half against Iceland was the best of the best.
The big issue the French have had though, has come on defending set pieces. We haven't seen Les Bleus put together one tremendously strong match defensively, and they did allow two goals in the second half to Iceland. If France gets a little too aggressive and commits too many fouls in its own half, it's sure to get punished by a strong German team.
QUICK PICK
This is going to be a great 90 minutes, and perhaps a great 120 minutes as well. Still, we have the feeling that this Germany team is going to end up getting the job done in spite of the fact that France is coming off of its best 90 minutes of the tournament.
This is just a huge step up for Les Bleus. They've played against Romania, Albania, Switzerland, Ireland and Iceland thus far, and outside of the last match, they haven't really been tremendous in any of those victories. Germany is a whole new ball game. The World Cup holders got to that point for a reason. We think these two are going to play to a draw inside of 90 minutes, and just as the Germans won the World Cup in extra time, we think there's a hero to be made in Bavaria on this day inside the last half hour as well.
Euro 2016 Odds: Germany 2, France 1 (AET)
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