Euro 2016: Germany finding the way to beat flaws that undermine their brilliance

For a team that has already conquered the world, there remain a few confusing contradictions about Germany. Those issues may affect whether they can also conquer Europe.

They win so comfortably - but have so many moments of discomfort.

They can be so crushingly devastating - but still give you a chance.

They can be so focused - but then go so slack.

They can be so kaleidoscopically cohesive - but then in an instant look like so ragged.

They look like they have so much more to give - but then there are a few players in the team who probably can’t get much better.

[MATCH REPORT: Germany’s Mustafi and Schweinsteiger strike to sink Ukraine]

It was all there in Sunday’s 2-0 win over Ukraine in Lille, that got their Euro 2016 campaign off to an encouraging but not emphatic start. Germany started superbly and finished well but, in between - and particularly in the 25-minute spell after Shkodran Mustafi had headed in the opening goal - they looked a lot less than world champions.

They looked vulnerable, and as if they could make this tournament more open than it already is. Ukraine arguably created more good chances throughout that spell than Germany did during the entire match - chances which led to the most memorable moment, as Jerome Boateng cleared his near own goal off the line.

After the game, many around the German squad - and many more outside it - understandably passed this off as the mere motions of an opening game, as something that will change for the better as the tournament goes on.

“Of course things could have been better,” man-of-the-match Toni Kroos said, “but it’s quite a good beginning.”

The most curious thing about this fundamentally brilliant team, however, is that their flaws have been a constant feature of Joachim Löw's reign.

Even in winning the World Cup in 2014, they were only truly convincing in two matches; one was the 4-0 group-stage win over Portugal, the other the historically seismic 7-1 obliteration of Brazil. It is remarkable that just two games before that near-perfect performance, though, they were almost eliminated by Algeria. Even before that, they were very fortunate in the 2-2 draw against Ghana.

There was just this odd sense of them riding their luck a little until, suddenly, they would rise above it all - but only briefly. This is a team that has had so many wins but have still mainly played within themselves.

It didn’t cost them at the World Cup - though it might have done had Spain not effectively abdicated - but it did cost them at Euro 2012.

Löw’s Germany were probably at their peak at the tournament in Poland and Ukraine, and put in more good displays than they did in 2014, but two bad errors against Italy - that had been foreshadowed by a few flaws in the 4-2 quarter-final win over Greece - saw them eliminated in the semi-finals.

The irony and oddity is that Germany probably make more mistakes now, but seem almost able to absorb them more. That could have something to do with the change in style.

Germany are much more possession-based these days and it was telling, and possibly a sign of their tournament to come, how they just gradually smothered Ukraine’s initiative and momentum in the second half.

Although Mykhailo Fomenko’s side had so impressively threatened an equaliser before the break, Germany then broke that will by just denying them the ball. It was very Spanish or, perhaps more relevantly given how many have played under him at Bayern Munich, very Pep Guardiola. It also finally forced Ukraine into the kind of desperate surge forward that allowed substitute Bastian Schweinsteiger to seal the win with the second. The Germans had shown fine game-management, without ever looking in complete control.

“We improved that in the second half,” Löw said. “We passed the ball quickly, our opponent had to run a lot and that’s why we dominated the second half.

"It was not too easy against a strong defence, and their counter-attacks were very dangerous, but we found a solution to that in the second half and that’s why I’m quite satisfied with the game and the result.”

Germany might just have found the solution to their many contradictions. If they have, then they might just follow Spain as the next team to string a European Championship victory together with a World Cup.