Germany v Spain: Women’s Euro 2022 Group B – live! | Women’s Euro 2022

62 min And a double change for Germany: Tabea Wassmuth and Sophia Kleinherne replaces Felicitas Rauch and the brilliant Alex Popp.

62 min A change for Spain – Claudio Pina replaes Lucia Garcia.

61 min Frohms flies from her area to make a vital tackle on Lucia Garcia, who was running onto a long, angled pass from the back.

60 min We’ve seen a replay now, and Paredes is pretty fortunate to still be on the pitch. She had a good fistful of Popp’s shirt and, though the referee couldn’t see it, I’m surprised VAR didn’t get involved.

59 min We haven’t seen a replay of that Popp/Paredes incident. When I saw it live I thought it was a foul, but I am about 700 miles away.

57 min Popp charges onto a long ball forward and goes down under challenge from the last defender Paredes. The referee Stephanie Frappart waves play on and Germany are fuming! Had she given a foul, Paredes would have been off.

56 min Spain win three corners in quick succession on the left. From the last of those, Paredes’s dangerous header is nodded clear by Hegering in the six-yard box.

53 min Batlle’s very deep cross bounces up awkwardly in front of Mariona, who can’t control it under pressure.

52 min Lots of Spain possession, but for the most part Germany are keeping them at arm’s length.

48 min Batlle’s shot from the edge of the area takes a deflection and flashes across the face of goal. Spain have made a fast start to the second half.

46 min An early half-chance for Germany, with Popp heading over from a left-wing corner. She towered over Paredes but couldn’t guide the header on target.

46 min Peep peep! Germany begin the second half.

A half-time change for Germany Lena Lattwein is on for Lina Magull.

Half-time reading

Ruthless, efficient, German: Germany have been all of those things and more. Spain played well for much of an excellent first half, but Sandra Panos’s horrible error led to an early goal for Klara Buhl, and Alex Popp headed a second shortly before half-time.

44 min The right-back Gwinn wanders infield, receives possession on the edge of the area and hits a left-footed shot that deflects wide. The resulting corner is volleyed wide by the unsighted Huth beyond the far post.

42 min So far Germany have done a bit of a number on Spain. You have the ball, we’ll score the goals.

40 min A loose ball breaks to Bonmati on the edge of the area. She teases a first-time chip over Frohms that drifts a few yards wide of the far post. I think it was a shot rather than a cross; either way, it was close.

38 min This is, almost unbelievably, Alex Popp’s first start in a European Championship match. She missed the 2013 and 2017 tournaments through injury, and started Friday’s game against Denmark on the bench.

It was the simplest of goals: an inswinging corner from Rauch on the right, and a decisive flicked header from Popp that deflected off Patri and into the net. I suspect it would have gone in without the deflection.

Alex Popp makes it two!

34 min Mariona threads a good pass into Patri, 20 yards from goal. She turns, moves into the area and clips a waist-high cross that flashes across the face of goal. Moments later, after some more crisp passing, Sheila Garcia slaps a half-volley over the bar from 12 yards. She had to take it early so it wasn’t the easiest chance.

32 min Bonmati and Lucia Garcia exchange passes on the edge of the Germany area. Bonmati has a chance to shoot but instead tries to find Sheila Garcia in space to her right. The pass is blocked and Germany clear the danger.

31 min If it stays like this, and I know that’s a sizeable if, Spain will need a draw against Denmark to qualify for the quarter-finals.

27 min Rauch is booked for cynically blocking Sheila Garcia, which means she’ll miss the game against Finland on Saturday. Maria Leon’s free-kick is headed away bravely at the near post by Popp.

25 min Germany are having more of the ball now. Magull dances into space on the left of the area and flashes a dangerous ball across the face of the goal. There was nobody in there.

23 min This is a really high-class game, the best I’ve seen so far (though I did miss Sweden v the Netherlands). England are going to have a tough quarter-final whatever happens.

20 min Buhl turns Batlle inside out on the left, and again Paredes comes across to clear the danger. Spain have been excellent on the ball but they do look vulnerable in defence. Moments later, Dabritz’s snapshot from 20 yards is well blocked by Aleixandri.

18 min: Just wide from Mariona! That was a brilliant effort. After some more snappy passing from Spain, Mariona took a quick touch, on the edge of the D, and then floated an early shot that beat the diving Frohms and curled past the far post.

17 min Passes completed so far: Germany 16-Spain 101.

16 min “Bühl as you like, that finish,” puns Peter Oh.

15 min Spain are starting to move the ball with their usual snap. After a long spell of possession, Patri makes space for a long-range shot that is comfortably saved to her right by Frohms.

13 min “The Spain manager bears a striking resemblance to Gareth Southgate,” says Charles Antaki, “so his expression of repressed chagrin seems very familiar, somehow.”

History will be very kind to Southgate and his repressed chagrin. Probably Jorge Vilda, too, though I’ll get back to you on that one in a couple of weeks.

10 min: Chance for Spain! It should be 1-1. Patri threaded a brilliant first-time pass to put Lucia Garcia through on goal. She went round Frohms but took the ball slightly wide and her shot hit the side netting.

7 min Magull picks up a loose ball and surges into the area, but Paredes reads the play beautifully and comes across to intercept. Germany look dangerous, and not only when Spain have the ball.

4 min John Beck’s Cambridge never conceded a goal like that, fact and end of.

When tiki-taka goes bad. Panos, the Spain keeper, played a lazy pass straight to Klara Buhl, 12 yards from goal. She controlled it deftly, veered away from Paredes and rammed a low left-footed drive into the far corner. It was an emphatic finish, but a horrible moment for Panos.

Germany take the lead after a howler from Sandra Panos!

1 min Peep peep! Spain, kicking from right to left, get this mighty match under way.

Here come the players. It’s a sweltering evening in west London, with temperatures pushing 30 degrees. A good night to let the ball do the work, as is Spain’s wont.

Another bit of news today: Vivianne Miedema has tested positive for Covid. She’ll miss the Netherlands’ match against Portugal tomorrow, and probably the final group game against Switzerland on Sunday. Covid is starting to have an unwelcome impact on this tournament.

Here’s Maryam Naz’s report on Denmark 1-0 Finland

Sid Lowe’s match preview

Spain have never beaten Germany before, so they are chasing a bit of history tonight.

Denmark beat Finland 1-0 in the early game. You’ll never believe who scored the goal.

One enforced change for Germany. Alex Popp, who came off the bench to score against Denmark, replaces Lea Schuller, who has Covid. Popp will also captain the side.

Spain have made a couple of changes. Laia Aleixandri and Sheila Garcia replace Irene Guerrero and Esther Gonzalez. That probably means Patri Guijarro will move from No6 to No8, and Lucia Garcia from right wing to centre forward.

Germany (4-3-3) Frohms; Gwinn, Hendrich, Hegering, Rauch; Oberdorf, Dabritz, Magull; Huth, Popp, Buhl.
Substitutes: Schult, Berger, Kleinherne, Lattwein, Lohmann, Freigang, Anyomi, Dallmann, Wassmuth, Brand, Doorsoun-Khajeh.

Spain (4-1-2-3) Panos; Batlle, Paredes, Leon, Ouahabi; Aleixandri; Bonmati, Patri; S Garcia, L Garcia, Mariona.
Substitutes: Gallardo, Misa, Ivana Andres, Guerrero, Esther Gonzalez, del Castillo, Cardona, Sarriegi, Abelleira, Carmona, Pereira, Pina.

Referee Stephanie Frappart (France).

Hello and welcome to live coverage of Germany v Spain at the Brentford Community Stadium. The book says this is a group game, but it feels so much grander – not because of what’s at stake so much as the quality of the two teams. With the exception of Sweden v the Netherlands, this is the biggest game of Euro 2022 so far.

Germany, serial winners of this competition, were pretty awesome in demolishing Denmark 4-0 on Friday. Spain recovered from an early shock to beat Finland 4-1, though tonight will give us a better idea of their pH level – how dependent they are on the injured Alexia Putellas and Jenni Hermoso, and whether they are still serious contenders in their absence. The Germans are also missing a star player tonight: Lea Schuller, who has tested positive for Covid.

It’s natural, given the class of both teams, to see this game as a chance to put down a marker for the rest of the tournament, rather than a simple source of three points. But it’s dangerous to assume qualification, and anything less than a win for Spain, in particular, would leave them vulnerable to a potential sting in their final group game.

Just one more thing. The runner-up in Group B will play England in the quarter-finals a week tomorrow; all things being equal, that will be one of these teams. It’s a succulent subplot to an already mouthwatering game.

Kick off 8pm BST.