What you need to know about Spain vs Germany

The quarter-final between Germany and Spain this Friday (6 p.m. FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ARD and MagentaTV) is, for many, an anticipated final due to the teams’ performances. İlkay Gündoğan, the German captain, basically agrees: “From now on, every game is a final.” The winner will face Portugal or France, who will then face each other in Hamburg (9 p.m. FAZ live ticker for the European Football Championship, on ZDF and MagentaTV).

In Stuttgart, national coach Julian Nagelsmann answered the question about the line-up, which he had left open the day before. There were still some personnel questions: Will Jonathan Tah return to central defense after Nico Schlotterbeck’s yellow card suspension? Yes, the Leverkusen player is back in the starting eleven, just like David Raum, who has been preferred to Maximilian Mittelstädt since being substituted against Switzerland, who will initially sit on the bench for the home game in Stuttgart. In defensive midfield, the national coach surprised everyone by putting Emre Can in the starting line-up. While Leverkusen’s Robert Andrich will initially only sit on the bench, Can’s job will probably be to look after Spain’s midfield star Rodri.

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Leroy Sané will play in attack again instead of Florian Wirtz, as he did in the round of 16 against Denmark just under a week ago. Both Wirtz and Niclas Füllkrug are Nagelsmann’s first options if more offensive power is needed. Füllkrug was the one who scored the 1-1 draw against Spain as a substitute when the Germans desperately needed a goal in the preliminary round of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Speaking of Spain: national team coach Luis de la Fuente is fielding the same eleven against Germany that beat Georgia 4-1 in the round of 16.

But special attention is now being paid to the player that the national coach prefers: Kai Havertz is an artist under pressure – and still creates small works of art with the ball. But can you win big games with him as a centre forward, asks Christopher Meltzer in his analysis.

One person who has experienced the big duels with Spain before is Philipp Lahm. In an interview with Christopher Meltzer and Christian Kamp, the current head of the European Championship organizing committee shares painful memories, says how the rival has developed and explains how the DFB team can overcome the hurdle this Friday.

In Stuttgart, the German national team will not only have to control the ball better than the Spanish, but also their emotions. Two of the DFB team have this special quality. Christian Kamp will comment on the game with his emotions.

The focus is also on three young players on the pitch, because they have the whole game in their heads: the German Jamal Musiala or the Spaniards Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams embody a football evolution. The reason for this is not only evident on the pitch, as Cord Riechelmann writes.

Robert Andrich has not yet played a full European Championship match. Nevertheless, he is extremely important for the DFB team. This is also thanks to a Spaniard. Andrich faces a difficult task in the quarter-finals, writes Tobias Rabe. And then there is his teammate Toni Kroos: Is this the last career game for the most Spanish German? Christopher Meltzer and Tobias Rabe describe his great value.

Who will win? The FAZ European Championship forecast by Daniel Memmert and Fabian Wunderlich sees Spain as the slight favorite. The overall forecast doesn’t look too bad either. Tobias Rabe explains how the numbers are calculated.