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• CF Montreal v Real Salt Lake: Courtois welcomes back absentees

  CF Montreal have used their recent MLS bye week to get some injured players back to fitness, says coach Laurent Courtois.

  Montreal were not in action last weekend, but kick-start the second half of their 2024 campaign against Real Salt Lake on Saturday.

  And Courtois revealed that the break enabled Montreal to get three strikers, who had all been injured, healthy.

  Josef Martinez, Matias Coccaro and Kwadwo Opoku are now back in the fold after lay-offs, as are Mason Toye and Lassi Lappalainen.

  “A big part of it was to get people healthy and to fix a little bit the morale of the troops,” Courtois said of the break. “In that sense, these past two weeks have been really beneficial.

  "Having all the people together brings a whole different dynamic. Everybody wants to win his spot.”

  Not that Montreal went into the break in poor form. They are unbeaten in three games, having drawn with the Philadelphia Union and Nashville SC either side of beating D.C. United 4-2.

  They sit 12th in the Eastern Conference, though going up against RSL presents a stern test.

  Salt Lake are top of the Western Conference with 33 points from their 17 matches. They are unbeaten in 13 games in MLS.

  PLAYERS TO WATCH

  CF Montreal – Sunusi Ibrahim

  Sunusi Ibrahim’s goal after 49 seconds on June 1 was the sixth first-minute goal Montreal have scored in MLS play. No team have scored more goals in the opening minute of matches since Montreal joined the league in 2012.

  Real Salt Lake – Cristian Arango

  Arango’s 16 goals and 10 assists for the season leave him one goal away from equalling Alvaro Saborio’s single-season club goals record of 17 set in 2012 and one goal contribution away from equalling Jeff Cunningham’s single-season record of 27 set in 2006.

  MATCH PREDICTION: RSL WIN

  RSL are on the second-longest single-season unbeaten run in club history (after going 14 straight games without defeat in 2010). The last team to go more than 13 straight games without defeat in a single regular season was the Portland Timbers (15) in 2018.

  Montreal, though, are unbeaten in three straight matches (W1 D2) following a four-match regular-season losing streak. Montreal have not gone unbeaten in four straight league matches in over a year, since winning four straight games in April-May last season.

  RSL recorded a 2-1 win at Montreal in the last meeting between the sides in May 2022. It was the first away win in the nine all-time meetings between the sides.

  OPTA WIN PROBABILITY

  Montreal – 30.1%

  RSL – 45.1%

  Draw – 24.9%

• Germany 5-1 Scotland: Five-star hosts make emphatic start at Euro 2024

  Germany enjoyed a wonderful start to their home Euro 2024 campaign on Friday as they thrashed 10-man Scotland 5-1 in Munich.

  A huge contingent of Scotland fans packed into the Allianz Arena in hope of witnessing their country's first major tournament victory since Euro 1996, but they were stunned into silence as Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala put Germany two goals up inside 19 minutes.

  Ryan Porteous was then sent off for a dismal lunge on Ilkay Gundogan shortly before half-time, allowing Kai Havertz to kill the game as a contest from the penalty spot. 

  Niclas Fullkrug came off the bench to score a tremendous fourth for Julian Nagelsmann's hosts, though Antonio Rudiger's own goal gave Scotland's supporters some small comfort late on.

  However, Emre Can – a late call-up to the squad – added further gloss to the scoreline in stoppage time, giving Germany the biggest ever win in an opening match at the Euros. 

  Germany needed just 10 minutes to go ahead, with Angus Gunn tipping Wirtz's low strike onto the post and in after Joshua Kimmich found the Bayer Leverkusen star unmarked on the edge of the area.

  Within nine further minutes, Germany were two up. Gundogan slipped Havertz into the area, and he kept his cool to tee up Musiala for a slammed finish high into the net.

  Gunn made a reflex save to keep out Gundogan's header, but Porteous caught the Barcelona midfielder with a high challenge from the rebound, causing referee Clement Turpin to award a penalty and brandish a red card following VAR review. 

  Havertz stepped up to take the spot-kick in first-half stoppage time, striking it straight down the middle as Gunn dived left to make it a case of damage limitation for Scotland. 

  Rudiger's 35-yard strike had Gunn at full stretch early in the second half, then Wirtz sent a half-volley over when presented with a golden chance at the back post.

  The outstanding Musiala was involved again as Germany got their fourth after 68 minutes, linking up with Gundogan before Fullkrug blasted his finish into the top-right corner.

  Scotland pulled one back with three minutes left as Rudiger put through his own net after a deep free-kick caused a goalmouth scramble, but Can restored Germany's four-goal cushion at the death, curling a 20-yard strike out of Gunn's reach and into the bottom-right corner.

  Wirtz and Musiala Germany's shining lights

  With an average age of 29 years and 22 days, Nagelsmann named Germany's oldest starting lineup for a World Cup or Euros match since a 1-1 draw with Romania at Euro 2000 (30 years, 86 days).

  However, in Wirtz and Musiala, Germany also started two players aged 21 or under at the Euros for the first time since 2004, when Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger faced Czechia. 

  Their two young guns led the way.

  Wirtz's strike made him the youngest player to ever score the opening goal at a European Championship (21 years, 42 days), but Musiala – just over two months Wirtz's senior – refused to be upstaged as he capped a flowing move with a powerful finish for 2-0.

  This is the first time two players aged 21 or under have scored for the same team in a Euros match.

  Porteous red caps miserable Scotland start

  Scotland arrived in Munich targeting their first Euros victory since 1996, having only won two of their previous nine matches at the tournament (two draws, five defeats).

  The gulf in quality between the sides was soon apparent, though, as Germany became just the second team to net three first-half goals in a Euros match. France have previously done so twice, scoring three against Belgium in 1984 and four versus Iceland in 2016.

  Things barely improved in the second half, with Scotland conceding at least five goals in a competitive match for the first time since November 2003, when they were beaten 6-0 by the Netherlands in a Euro 2004 qualifier. 

  While this was always likely to be Scotland's toughest assignment, they will also feel the consequences of their display against Switzerland, with Porteous suspended.

  He is the first Scotland player to be sent off at a major tournament since Craig Burley versus Morocco at the 1998 World Cup.

• Euro 2024 social round-up: Mou and Fergie link up, Pickford's quiz and Pavard the photographer

  Euro 2024 hosts Germany got off to a flying start as they comprehensively dispatched Scotland 5-1 on Friday.

  Goals from Florian Wirtz, Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and Niclas Fullkrug blew Scotland away at the Allianz Arena.

  But while the football entertained, there was also plenty of action on social media.

  Here's a pick of the best posts.

  The special... two?

  Jose Mourinho and Alex Ferguson enjoyed a great rivalry on the touchline down the years, but there was no sign of that as the two watched on from the stands in Munich.

  Unfortunately for Ferguson, Scotland were on the receiving end of a hammering.

  We can only wonder what these two greats had to say about Scotland's sorry performance, though surely they will have been full of praise for Germany.

  Honouring a great

  Franz Beckenbauer passed away in January, and ahead of the opening game, his wife Heidi led a touching tribute to der Kaiser.

  Moral support

  Nathan Patterson is not fit to feature for Scotland, but the Everton full-back has travelled out to Germany to support his team-mates.

  Unfortunately for Scotland, it didn't quite work out, and Patterson will be needing to provide plenty of moral support after their heavy defeat in Munich.

  Pickford gets quizzed

  England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford was fulfilling his media duties on Friday, and he stopped by to answer some fan questions ahead of the Three Lions' opener against Serbia.

  Pickford was quizzed on how he copes with the pressure as kick-off approaches - "Enjoy the moment", he said - while revealing former England shot-stopper Joe Hart, who retired last month, has served as an inspiration.

  Young guns exciting Schweinsteiger 

  Bastian Schweinsteiger helped Germany to World Cup glory in 2014, so it feels like he is pretty well placed to pass judgement on up and coming stars.

  And when asked on X for the players he was most excited to see in action at Euro 2024, the former Bayern Munich midfielder picked out Florian Wirtz, Cole Palmer and Rafael Leao.

  Wirtz certainly delivered, as he starred in Germany's big win over Scotland. Will Palmer and Leao be equally as impressive for England and Portugal respectively?

  Picture perfect

  Olivier Giroud is one handsome devil, so it's no surprise that he's a photographer's dream.

  That being said, it's rare that the person behind the camera is one of his team-mates, but Giroud could only smile, and offer a cheeky pose, as Benjamin Pavard sneakily grabbed a camera and tried to get the perfect shot while the France number nine was holding a press conference.