Germany suffers historic defeat after being "played tennis" by Spain

In Stuttgart tonight, July 5, the German team will enter an extremely important quarter-final match against a big opponent, Spain. The Spanish team not only has extremely high performance with 4 wins in a row (scoring 9 goals, conceding 1), but is also an opponent that Germany has not won against in the last 4 encounters in nearly a decade (3 draws, 1 loss).

It is worth mentioning that the only defeat during that period is a stain on German football history. It took place on November 17, 2020, in the final match of the UEFA Nations League 2020-21 group stage. At that time, Spain was ranked second in Group 4 with 8 points after 5 matches, while Germany was in the lead with 1 point more. That means Germany only needed a draw in Sevilla to reach the final of the Nations League 2020-21.

But in the end, the most unlikely scenario happened: Joachim Loew's Germany were humiliated 6-0 in a match in which they were crushed by the formidable attack of Luis Enrique's Spain. Morata opened the scoring in the 17th minute, while 20-year-old striker Ferran Torres was the hero for the hosts with a hat-trick in the 33rd, 55th, and 71st minutes. Rodri and Oyarzabal also got on the scoresheet.

This victory helped Spain reach the final round of the UEFA Nations League 2020-21. Ferran Torres then continued to shine with a double to help Spain defeat Italy 2-1 right at San Siro. Unfortunately, in the final, Luis Enrique's team lost 1-2 to the French team.

All four players who scored against Germany that year are playing at EURO 2024. In addition, three other Spanish players were also present in Sevilla that day: Unai Simon, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Olmo. Meanwhile, the current German team also has 7 players who participated in that terrible defeat: Toni Kroos, Ilkay Gundogan, Leroy Sane, Jonathan Tah, Robin Koch, Benjamin Henrichs and especially poor goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, who had to concede half a dozen goals.

According to statistics, this is the heaviest defeat in the history of the German team in an official tournament. It is even more terrible than the 3-8 defeat against Hungary in the group stage of the 1954 World Cup. And if you count friendly matches, it is the second heaviest defeat in history, after the 0-9 loss to amateur England on March 13, 1909.

"It's true that they beat us, or rather destroyed us. But anyway, that match is in the past," Leroy Sane recalled. Will he and his six remaining teammates easily forget that haunting year?