Listen to the Sky Sports Football Euros Podcast for all the build-up to Tuesday's clash
Tuesday 29 June 2021 08:17, UK
What's the feeling in the Germany camp? How will they set up at Wembley? And could Jamal Musiala start?
Speaking on the Sky Sports Football Euros podcast, Sky in Germany's Uli Kohler gives us the lowdown on Joachim Low's side ahead of Tuesday's crunch Euro 2020 last-16 clash at Wembley against England.
"Let's start with the players. Everyone was happy; going to Wembley is a good reason to quickly forget about the [Hungary] game and look forward. Going to Wembley, playing England at the European Championship is the greatest - they're really looking forward to it.
"The team's reputation among the fans has been lousy recently. The last couple of years have been hard to handle but then came the game against Portugal and everyone cheered up! Hungary was a really hard game; the Germans didn't perform at all - it was worse than England vs Scotland! - but the group stage is over, they can look forward and forget about it now.
"Look at Spain - they played horribly at times in the group stage too. The same happened with France. So, forget it: let's go!
"There are young players in the Germany side but at the same time they're also quite experienced... Joshua Kimmich, Leroy Sane, Serge Gnabry, Leon Goretzka; they won the Champions League with Bayern last year but they haven't won anything with the national team and that's their main goal now. It's the German generation born in '95 and they want to be like some of the older guys, who won the World Cup. That's the plan but it will be hard because England has an incredibly talented team."
"You never know with Joachim Low - he has done some strange things and he is under pressure in Germany. This is his last tournament and he has achieved so much but there will be a sigh of relief after the Euros.
"I think he will adopt the same plan as against Portugal but who knows what Gareth Southgate will do? The German side likes it when they play against a team that wants to play football. Hungary built up a concrete wall. But everyone here thinks that England will want to play football - and that could give Germany a chance.
"Everybody thinks that Goretzka has to be in and replace Ilkay Gundogan, who isn't performing like he did for Man City. Toni Kroos is also under pressure but Low usually stands by his older guys. Thomas Muller will be fit so I think we'll see that side that played against Portugal."
"He's incredible. Lothar Matthaus thinks he has to be in the starting line-up against England. I'm not so sure. I think it's a lot of pressure on his young shoulders. This is the game of games, England vs Germany; it might be a bit too much for an 18-year-old, but you saw when he came off the bench what he could do.
"He was immediately right in the game - he has fun and he had two great moments in five minutes... more than the rest of the German attack had! I think he will be a real weapon if the game is close.
"I remember a story that he was driven to training on his birthday by his mother in an old Opel Corsa... all the other players had their Ferraris! Now he's playing for the national side in the Euros at Wembley. It's an incredible story!"
"In April and May when the tournament was close, he played incredibly well for Dortmund. I can't believe he's not been playing but if he's on the bench for England, we won't worry about that!
"The deal to take him to Manchester United is almost done as I understand it but he needs to be playing; he can certainly do incredible things."
"I think the Germany fans will be expecting victory - that's the German tradition, to do it when it matters the most!
"Have we been talking about Euro 96? Of course! We'll try and take what power we can from that game! Again, that Germany team was not the best overall but they won it.
"The big question is will it go to penalties again?! May the best team win - or the luckiest one!"
Rivalries in international football do not get any bigger than England versus Germany. With the two nations set for a collision course in the last 16 of Euro 2020, Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp and Uli Kohler joined Peter Smith to analyse both camps ahead of Tuesday's showdown at Wembley.
PART 1 | Jamie Redknapp, a member of the England squad dumped out of Euro 96 by Germany, assesses the performances in the group stages of Euro 2020 and explains why Gareth Southgate's talented squad have nothing to fear against the Germans.
PART 2 | The prospect of facing England at Wembley is one every Germany player will relish irrespective of an inconsistent group stage, according to Sky Germany reporter Uli Kohler, who talks tactics, Jamal Musiala, Jadon Sancho and the dreaded prospect of penalties with Peter in part two.
