Euro: 5 reasons why World champions Germany failed

World champions Germany will not be present at the Euro 2016 final in Paris, after being knocked out by hosts France 0-2 in the semi-final in Marseille.

French football fans painted the town red, white and blue after Antoine Griezmann scored twice to take his country within a striking distance of European glory.

The Les Blues will meet Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal in the final in Paris.

Aruneel Sadadekar/Rediff.com offers five reasons why heavyweights Germany came up short against neighbours France.

Brilliant start

Despite losing key players like striker Mario Gomez and midfielder Sami Khedira to injuries, the World champions started the semi-final positively.

Such was the flair and versatility of Mesut Ozil, Toni Kroos, Thomas Muller and young Joshua Kimmich that France forwards Griezmann and Dimitri Payet were forced to adopt a defensive role for major period of first half.

Lack of a finisher

Germany lack a world-class forward and significant back-up options up front.

They started the tournament with their hero of 2014 World Cup final Mario Gotze in a 'false No 9' role, and when that did not work out, fielded a more conventional striker in Mario Gomez.

The 30-year-old Gomez gave Germany penetration and balance. However, the hamstring injury he suffered in the quarter-final win against Italy was a massive blow.

Thomas Muller is a world-class finisher, but this wasn't the Bayern man's tournament. He worked hard, and was right to point out that he had not squandered many chances in France – he just did not get as many as he is used to.

The Germans created plenty of chances but lacked that perfect finisher upfront.

Thus, an agonising conclusion for Germany: imagine this side with a Robert Lewandowski or a Griezmann up front! It would have been in the final.

Schweinsteiger blunder gives France hope

It happened seconds before the half-time whistle. France took a corner and we could see the referee ready to blow for the break.

However, before anyone could understand what was happening, the jam-packed stadium at Marseille was celebrating.

Experienced German captain Bastian Schweinsteiger, who was brilliant till this moment, was penalised for handball inside the box. 

The referee took his time before pointing to the spot as the Germans contested the decision.

Griezmann kept his cool, sending Neuer the wrong way and him a step closer towards the Golden Boot.

Defensive conundrum

The Germans had conceded the least number of goals (1) in regular playing time before the semi-finals.

That solitary goal had come from a penalty, when defender Jerome Boateng was penalised for a similar handball like Schweinsteiger's in the quarter-final against Italy.

Germany coped reasonably well with defender Mats Hummels suspended, and in his absence Benedikt Howedes produced one of the tackles of the tournament to end Olivier Giroud’s slow-motion sprint.

But the loss of Jerome Boateng, their best defender, due to an injury with more than half an hour to go proved a huge blow for Leow's side.

The second goal was due to a defensive lapse as Boateng's replacement, Shkodran Mustafi, failed to clear the ball.

Griezmann and Umtiti sink Germany

Yes, the Germans dominated the game throughout but one man stood tall in the French defense and was mainly responsible to help his side keep a clean sheet.

Samuel Umtiti, who replaced the suspended Adil Rami in the quarter-final, had a game of his life.

He twice denied Thomas Muller of what might have been a long-awaited goal and combined well with the other defenders to safeguard the French fortress.

However, the man of the match was Griezmann.

It is raining goals for him. The French magician held his nerve to redeem himself after having missed his spot-kick in Atletico Madrid's Champions League final defeat to Real Madrid in May, by scoring a perfect penalty kick.

France's second goal was a goalkeeping howler by Neuer, but Griezmann stamped his authority by scoring and going to the top of the goal-scorers' list in the tournament. His tally of six goals is the second most (Michel Platini 9 goals in 1984 Euro) in a single Euro edition.