The movement of Germany's attacking players was key to their emphatic opening win over Scotland at UEFA EURO 2024 – notably their excellent runs beyond the visitors' back line.

This was the verdict of UEFA technical observer Ole Gunnar Solskjær and UEFA's performance analysis unit, who together identified the variety of runs by the host attackers behind a Scotland defence set in a mid-block in a 5-4-1 formation. Germany had different players making runs either behind the defence or into pockets between the lines and Scotland, in the words of their captain Andy Robertson, were too passive in their response and unable to "get enough pressure on the ball".

The second Germany goal, scored by Jamal Musiala, offers a perfect illustration. In the first clip of the video above, we see how Musiala steps back into his own half to draw centre-back Jack Hendry upfield and so create the space behind into which Kai Havertz runs. Although Toni Kroos looks instead to lkay Gündogan, when he then turns away from his marker and advances, he is able to supply Havertz, still in the pocket of space he had stepped into and ready to tee up Musiala to strike.

Reflecting on the problems that Germany caused his team, Robertson told UEFA.com: "They managed to mix up their play a lot. We didn't know whether they were going in behind or coming short in the pocket. All their good players showed up for them. We didn't hold onto the ball well enough; we didn't defend well enough."

The performance analysis unit saw something similar in the night’s opening goal by Florian Wirtz. Runs into the box by Gündo?an – who covered more distance than any other player on the pitch – and Havertz forced Scotland’s defenders to drop deep and this created the space that Wirtz attacked, receiving a pass by Joshua Kimmich and scoring with a low shot.

Germany coach Julian Nagelsmann said: "The first goal, in particular, was very well played. It wasn't easy to score because there were a lot of Scottish bodies in the way."

Although Scotland switched to a 5-3-2 to limit Germany's central penetrations, the hosts then opened up more space on the outside, such as with Musiala's run in the lead-up to the foul for the penalty that brought the third goal. The theme continued in the second half, with Germany producing plenty more runs into the half-spaces against opponents now often in a low block as they defended with ten men, following Ryan Porteous's red card.

Germany captain Gündogan praised his team's "intensity from the start", while Nagelsmann noted that this was crucial to their eventual 5-1 success. "Especially in the first 20 minutes, we did brilliant: good ball possession, good counter-pressing, very good aggression," he concluded.