Semi-finals preview: England v Germany, Spain v Italy
Monday, June 26, 2017
Article summary
England face Germany and Spain play Italy in Tuesday's U21 EURO semis – we look at the possible line-ups, hear from the coaches and come up with some killer facts.
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How can I follow the games on UEFA.com?
UEFA.com will have reporters on the ground at both of Tuesday's semi-finals, bringing you live analysis, photos, minute-by-minute commentary and reaction. There will also be extensive coverage on Twitter (@UEFAUnder21), Facebook (@under21) and Instagram (uefaeuro).
- Live build-up to England v Germany (Tychy, 18:00CET)
- Live build-up to Spain v Italy (Krakow, 21:00CET)
ENGLAND V GERMANY
Possible line-ups
England: Pickford; Holgate, Chambers, Mawson, Chilwell; Ward-Prowse, Hughes, Baker, Gray; Swift; Abraham.
▪ Nathaniel Chalobah (groin) and Nathan Redmond (hamstring) are doubtful after missing training on Monday.
Germany: Pollersbeck; Toljan, Stark, Kempf, Gerhardt; Arnold, Dahoud; Weiser, Meyer, Gnabry; Selke.
▪ Germany fielded this same starting XI in all three of their group games.
Who said what?
Aidy Boothroyd, England manager: "We know we've got a tough task ahead, but if you want to be the best you've got to beat the best. We're looking forward to it, we're excited about it. It's really difficult to recreate the emotion, the fatigue and the mental pressure [of a possible penalty shoot-out]. But we think we're a little bit more ready than we ever have been."
Stefan Kuntz, Germany coach: "We have the experience of the friendly in March (Germany won 1-0) but every game has its own history. There are certain things we need to focus on, but mostly ourselves. If we all perform and play at 100%, it's difficult to beat us."
How did they get this far?
England (Group A winners)
Drew 0-0 v Sweden
Won 2-1 v Slovakia
Won 3-0 v Poland
Germany (best runners-up)
Won 2-0 v Czech Republic
Won 3-0 v Denmark
Lost 1-0 v Italy
How can I watch the game?
England: Sky UK
Germany: ARD, ZDF, Sport1
The full list of broadcast partners is available here. Games will also be streamed live on UEFA.com and UEFA.tv in some territories.
What you might not already know
Kuntz asked to be Germany's fifth penalty taker against England in the EURO '96 semi-final shoot-out. "England usually don't reach the fifth set of penalties," he said. "When they did, my heart was in my pants. I wanted to put it low, but it went in high."
SPAIN V ITALY
Possible line-ups
Spain: Kepa; Bellerín, Meré, Vallejo, Jonny; Saúl, Llorente, Ceballos; Deulofeu, Sandro, Asensio.
▪ With his team already qualified, Albert Celades made 11 changes for the final group game against Serbia. He is expected to revert to the same XI that started against Portugal on matchday two.
Italy: Donnarumma; Ferrari, Rugani, Caldara, Barreca; Benassi, Gagliardini, Pellegrini; Chiesa, Petagna, Bernardeschi.
▪ With Andrea Conti and Domenico Berardi suspended, Luigi Di Biagio is expected to field Alex Ferrari at right-back and Andrea Petagna in attack.
Who said what?
Albert Celades, Spain coach: "Tomorrow will be a 'Clásico' almost. We're very excited – it's a thrill to be at this stage. These crunch situations are nothing new to us; we faced a similar thing in qualifying [beating Austria on away goals in the play-offs] so it's like second nature to us now. We're approaching the game with the best possible mindset, real desire and ambition."
Luigi Di Biagio, Italy coach: "Spain are favourites, they have a great team. In a way we need to be afraid of them. They are very good from a technical and tactical point of view, and very good at moving the ball. We'll have to be at our best to win the game; we must try not to lose that grit and determination we showed against Germany."
How did they get this far?
Italy (Group C winners)
Won 2-0 v Denmark
Lost 3-1 v Czech Republic
Won 1-0 v Germany
Spain (Group B winners)
Won 5-0 v FYR Macedonia
Won 3-0 v Portugal
Won 1-0 v Serbia
How can I watch the game?
The full list of broadcast partners is available here. Games will also be streamed live on UEFA.com and UEFA.tv in some territories.
What you might not already know
This game will be played exactly one year to the day since Italy beat Spain 2-0 in the UEFA EURO 2016 round of 16. Héctor Bellerín and Federico Bernardeschi were unused substitutes in Paris.