Germany's dream of becoming only the third to team to hold the World Cup and the Coupe Henri-Delaunay at the same time came to an abrupt end on Thursday night in Marseille's Stade Velodrome.
The 2-0 defeat at the hands of host nation France in the semi-final of Euro 2016 was hard to grasp, for it felt so unnecessary.
One would be hard-pressed to find someone who believes Les Bleus were the better side in the match. The world champions dictated the run of play for much of the 90 minutes but lacked that little bit of decisiveness going forward and some concentration at the back.