We analyse three big questions as world champions Germany do battle with Ukraine to open Group C at Euro 2016.
Germany’s tournament form
Despite qualifying for Euro 2016 atop of their group ahead of Poland and the Republic of Ireland, the 2014 World Cup winners enter the tournament amid an inconsistent run of form over the past 12 months. The Germans have failed to win four of their previous seven matches including a 3-1 defeat to Slovakia, in which manager Joachim Low elected to hand four players their first caps, three of which made the final squad with Julian Brandt missing out.
While the alarm bells will not yet be ringing for a side that knows what it takes to win a major tournament, Germany will be concerned by the fact they lost games to fellow contenders England and host nation France in the lead-up to the tournament. In their final friendly, a 2-0 win against Hungary, the Germans kept just their first clean sheet in nine matches.
Who will stand up for Ukraine?
Ukraine enter the tournament looking to make a mends for their poor showing at Euro 2012, where they exited at the group stage, in a tournament they co-hosted. The stars of the Ukrainian show are set to be Dynamo Kyiv’s Andriy Yarmolenko and Sevilla’s Yevhen Konoplyanka, but the question remains: who will be able to stand up and help guide the nation to the knockout stages for the first time as an independent nation?
Most importantly, the pair will not only need support in all three group games and the entirety of the tournament, but the game against Germany looms as a crucial contest in the outlook of the group. Bringing such an experienced squad to the tournament in terms of age will go a long way to determining how far the Synyo-Zhovti go.
Germany’s youngsters
Yes, we know they are talented but do they have what it takes to help bring success to Germany for the second straight major tournament? Low has selected four players aged 21 and under for the tournament: Joshua Kimmich (Bayern Munich), Leroy Sane (FC Schalke), Jonathan Tah (Bayer Leverkusen) and Julian Weigl (Borussia Dortmund). These players do have big shoes to fill with the Germans missing some of their biggest names including new Manchester City man Ilkay Gundogan and Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus.
With so much at stake over the next month, it will be interesting to watch and see how these young players react to their surroundings. A number of strong performances could see their stocks rise quickly in the transfer market, making them some of the hottest prospects in world football.
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