European Championship Quarter Final: Spain – Germany 

An unbelievable clash to kick off the quarter finals this friday at 18.00. A replay of the 2008 final in which Spain started their dominance in world football with a 1-0 victory thanks to a Fernando Torres goal. Many believe that this should have been the final as these 2 sides are among the best playing teams in the whole tournament so far. Germany impressed with strong victories over Scotland and Hungary while Spain totally outplayed Croatia, Italia and also shined in the 2nd half against Georgia. 

Spain Team News

Luis de La Fuente looks like he has found his favourite starting 11 settling well into the tournament. This probably means that Dani Olmo and also Leverkusen star Grimaldo are expected to be on the bench. On left back, Cucurella has started the first 2 group games and also the last 16 match against Georgia while Nico Williams and Yamine Lamal are extremely dangerous on the wing so far. The midfield trio of Rodri, Ruiz and Pedri are very complementary to eachother. One question could be whether Le Normand or Nacho play at centre back alongside Laporte. 

Germany Team News

Germany will have Jonathan Tah back available after his suspension in the last 16 that kept him out of contention. Rudiger, who had some injury problems ahead of the Denmark clash looked fully fit and will likely partner Tah in the quarter final against Spain. The midfield trio looks quite certain as well with Gundogan,Andrich and Kroos while up front probably Havertz, Musiala and WIrtz again. 

Spain Form

Spain are the inform team this tournament. La Furia Roja have won all games of the tournament so far and in a convincing manner. They have only conceded 1 goal, which was Le Normands own goal in the final game against Georgia. But their dominant attacking play has also meant they are so strong for their opponents that they find it difficult to create chances. Germany with their strong front 4 will find their chances though to make use of the space behind the Spain defence in the coming match we expect. 

Germany Form

Germany started furiously with convincing victories against Scotland and Hungary. The motor had a little hiccup against Switzerland where Nicolas Fullkrug managed to save a point in the dying minutes of the match. In their last 16 match against Denmark, Germany were very convinding again with a good performance. Especially the first half it was a miracle that Germany didn´t score. Some good luck with an offside call for Denmark and a penalty call afterwards meant that they could cruise to victory in the second half. 

What do the stats say?

• Germany have failed to win in their last 4 contests with Spain
• Last 10 games saw 4 Spain wins, 2 Germany wins and 4 draws
• The last time Germany beat Spain at the Euro´s or World cup was in the Euro of 1988

Our verdict

What an exciting game up ahead as arguably 2 of the best playing teams will play eachother in the quarter final on Friday. Both teams are known for their positive attacking style of play and will be looking to dominate the other team. It will be very interesting to see which team will prove to be most powerful. It will be dififcult to choose a winner here but we lean towards Germany as they have the firepower to take advantage of the space that the Spanish back four can leave sometimes in their attacking formation, while also having the home advantage of course to back them.