Day six at #U19EURO: Group B preview
Sunday, July 12, 2015
Article summary
All four teams go into the final round of matches on three points, with Spain and Russia needing a draw to progress and the Netherlands and Germany having to win.
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Matchday two results:
Spain 1-3 Russia
Germany 1-0 Netherlands
Matchday three permutations
• Spain and Russia both need a draw to reach the semi-finals; Germany and the Netherlands both have to win to progress.
• If both matches finish in a draw, Spain and Russia would qualify for the semi-finals due to their superior goal difference in group matches overall. If Spain and Russia have the same number of goals scored and conceded, Russia will top the group on head to head record.
• If one match has a winner and the other match is a draw, the winners will top the group with six points and Spain or Russia will finish runners-up with four points and a superior goal difference in all group matches to their matchday three opponents.
• If Russia and Spain win, Russia finish first and Spain second.
• If Spain and Germany win, Spain finish first and Germany second.
• If Russia and the Netherlands win, the Netherlands finish first and Russia second.
• If Germany and the Netherlands win, Germany finish first and the Netherlands second.
Russia (3 points) v Germany (3) (20.00CET, Katerini)
Suspended: Dzhamaldin Khodzhaniyazov (Russia)
Available after ban: Aleksandr Likhachev (Russia)
Misses next match if booked: Dmitri Barinov, Aleksandr Golovin (Russia); Marius Funk, Jonathan Tah, Jonas Föhrenbach, Luca Waldschmidt (Germany)
History
• Germany were 3-2 winners against Russia on matchday one of the 2007 finals, thanks to goals from Nils Petersen (11), Mesut Özil (14) and Max Kruse (66). Artem Dzyuba (58 90+2) replied for Russia. Germany lost to Greece in the semi-finals; Russia finished bottom of the group.
Russia
• Coach Dmitri Khomukha: "Defeating Spain was very emotional for the players and a huge boost for their self-confidence. But our plans haven't changed. We must defeat Germany on matchday three and we will do everything to achieve it."
Germany
• Coach Marcus Sorg: "I said when the draw was made that this group was wide open. All of the teams are at the same level and it just comes down to your form on the day, and now and again it's down to luck. Of course I really hope that, after the defeat by Spain, the win against the Netherlands will have taken a bit of pressure off the lads and that they can play more freely now. The beautiful thing is that all four teams now know that a win will take them through – it's a great position to be in."
Spain (3 points) v Netherlands (3) (20.00CET, Veria)
Suspended: none
Available after ban: Alfonso Pedraza (Spain)
Misses next match if booked: Antonio Marin, Aaron Caricol (Spain); Bilal Ould-Chikh (Netherlands)
History
• Spain reached the semi-finals of the 2013 tournament thanks to a 3-2 win against the Netherlands on matchday three. The result took the Spanish through as Group A winners and eliminated the Netherlands, who finished third.
Spain
• Coach Luis de la Fuente: "This group is wide open and everything will be decided on matchday three. We'll try to win, but it will be very hard against a great team. I have confidence in my team as they have always been up to the task in all situations. We will give it our best and we believe in ourselves. I believe we can qualify, if of course we achieve a high level of performance – not as we did against Russia."
Netherlands
• Coach Aron Winter: "It was tough to lose in the last minute [against Germany], but I don't think it'll be difficult to raise the players' spirits – they'll be there. All we have to do is get a good result, a victory, against Spain. It's clear, we have to win. That's all we have to do. We've not taken our chances so far and it's possible everybody could end on four points and then goal difference would decide the first two places. But the most important thing is our game – we have to win that."