The games are coming thick and fast for the U21s who are playing in the European Championship in Poland. Germany manager Stefan Kuntz and his men will be hoping for a second group-stage win in their game against Denmark on Wednesday (20:45 CEST). Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the encounter.
Lone loss: Germany’s U21s have faced Denmark nine times yet only lose once. The loss came in a European Championship qualifier on October 12th, 1993 in Celle (1-0). Five of the nine duels with Germany’s northerly neighbours have been won by Germany, including each of the last three. The game has ended in a draw on three occasions. Germany’s biggest win came against Denmark on May 28th 2008, when manager Dieter Eilts’ side ran out 4-0 winners in Lübeck.
Déjà vu: Germany have played their second group-stage game in the U21 EURO against Denmark before, just a couple of years back in the 2015 edition of the tournament. Goals from Kevin Volland (32’, 48’) and Matthias Ginter (53’) gave Germany a 3-0 win over them in Prague exactly two years to the day, on June 20th 2015. That was the only time the two sides have met in a European Championship.
The last meeting: The two sides last met on September 3rd 2015 in a friendly in Lübeck, which was won by Germany 2-1. Timo Werner (51’) and Levin Öztunali (82’) found the back of the net to turn the game around after Germany conceded first. Casper Nielsen scored to give the Danes the lead in the 42nd minute.
Opening win: Germany won their opener against the Czech Republic 2-0. Max Meyer fired his side ahead shortly before the break (44’) before new Bayern signing Serge Gnabry (50’) doubled the DFB’s lead. Striker Davie Selke had his penalty parried by the Czech keeper in the closing stages of the game (85’), meaning that Germany missed up on the chance to become the outright leaders of Group C in retrospect. Germany were dominant, with 62% possession, a 57% challenge success rate, and Julian Pollersbeck only had to deal with two Czech shots compared to Germany getting off nine at the other end. No team had a greater share of possession than Kuntz’s side in the first matchday. Germany also won the highest percentage of their challenges.
Offensive woes: Things didn’t go as well for the Denmark outfit, who lost 2-0 to record European Champions Italy, as they struggled to get things going offensively. The Danes only managed to get one shot off at Italy’s goal, which was nowhere near enough to challenge the Italians who scored themselves through Lorenzo Pellegrini (54’) and Andrea Petagna (86’).
Current standings: Germany and Italy top Group C with three points each, and having both won their games 2-0. Denmark are now under pressure, with anything but a win likely signalling an early exit from the tournament for them. The DFB outfit would have a decent chance of progressing through to the semi-final with a win, and be in control of their own fate.
Win streak: Germany have won their last eleven games, scoring 37 times and conceding just 8 goals. The last loss was a 5-0 defeat in the 2015 U21 European Championship in the Czech Republic to Portugal. The German U21s have never before enjoyed such a successful and long-lasting winning streak in competitive games. The U21s have won 15 of their last 17 international games overall (including friendlies), with the team losing 1-0 to Poland in November last year, and 1-0 to Portugal at the end of March this year. Germany have not conceded in the first halves of five of their last six games – the exception came in the loss to Portugal on March 28th 2017 in Stuttgart.
The games are coming thick and fast for the U21s who are playing in the European Championship in Poland. Germany manager Stefan Kuntz and his men will be hoping for a second group-stage win in their game against Denmark on Wednesday (20:45 CEST). Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the encounter.
Lone loss: Germany’s U21s have faced Denmark nine times yet only lose once. The loss came in a European Championship qualifier on October 12th, 1993 in Celle (1-0). Five of the nine duels with Germany’s northerly neighbours have been won by Germany, including each of the last three. The game has ended in a draw on three occasions. Germany’s biggest win came against Denmark on May 28th 2008, when manager Dieter Eilts’ side ran out 4-0 winners in Lübeck.
Déjà vu: Germany have played their second group-stage game in the U21 EURO against Denmark before, just a couple of years back in the 2015 edition of the tournament. Goals from Kevin Volland (32’, 48’) and Matthias Ginter (53’) gave Germany a 3-0 win over them in Prague exactly two years to the day, on June 20th 2015. That was the only time the two sides have met in a European Championship.
The last meeting: The two sides last met on September 3rd 2015 in a friendly in Lübeck, which was won by Germany 2-1. Timo Werner (51’) and Levin Öztunali (82’) found the back of the net to turn the game around after Germany conceded first. Casper Nielsen scored to give the Danes the lead in the 42nd minute.
Opening win: Germany won their opener against the Czech Republic 2-0. Max Meyer fired his side ahead shortly before the break (44’) before new Bayern signing Serge Gnabry (50’) doubled the DFB’s lead. Striker Davie Selke had his penalty parried by the Czech keeper in the closing stages of the game (85’), meaning that Germany missed up on the chance to become the outright leaders of Group C in retrospect. Germany were dominant, with 62% possession, a 57% challenge success rate, and Julian Pollersbeck only had to deal with two Czech shots compared to Germany getting off nine at the other end. No team had a greater share of possession than Kuntz’s side in the first matchday. Germany also won the highest percentage of their challenges.
Offensive woes: Things didn’t go as well for the Denmark outfit, who lost 2-0 to record European Champions Italy, as they struggled to get things going offensively. The Danes only managed to get one shot off at Italy’s goal, which was nowhere near enough to challenge the Italians who scored themselves through Lorenzo Pellegrini (54’) and Andrea Petagna (86’).
Current standings: Germany and Italy top Group C with three points each, and having both won their games 2-0. Denmark are now under pressure, with anything but a win likely signalling an early exit from the tournament for them. The DFB outfit would have a decent chance of progressing through to the semi-final with a win, and be in control of their own fate.
Win streak: Germany have won their last eleven games, scoring 37 times and conceding just 8 goals. The last loss was a 5-0 defeat in the 2015 U21 European Championship in the Czech Republic to Portugal. The German U21s have never before enjoyed such a successful and long-lasting winning streak in competitive games. The U21s have won 15 of their last 17 international games overall (including friendlies), with the team losing 1-0 to Poland in November last year, and 1-0 to Portugal at the end of March this year. Germany have not conceded in the first halves of five of their last six games – the exception came in the loss to Portugal on March 28th 2017 in Stuttgart.
Milestone: Germany’s next goal would be their 50th scored in the U21 European Championship
Engine: Niklas Stark is the only German to have appeared in each of the U21s’ last ten games.
Danish form: Denmark have been defeated in three of their last four internationals, with their only win coming against their neighbours Sweden on June 10th 2017 (2-0). However, Denmark’s 2-0 loss to Italy was also their first defeat since under competitive circumstances since their 2015 European Championship semi-final exit, a game which they lost 4-1 to eventual champions Sweden. Since then, they have won nine games and drawn one.
Seven EURO appearances: Denmark’s U21’s played their first game in 1976 – a 2-0 loss to Norway on August 25th. This is their seventh European Championship appearance, and their biggest success was in the 2015 and 1992 tournaments when they reached the semi-final. Denmark had no chance in 1992, losing to eventual champions Italy in both legs (1-0 and 2-0). The highest victory for the Danes came in October 2002, when they beat Luxembourg 9-0, whilst their biggest defeat was a 6-0 loss to Bulgaria in Sofia in April 1989.
Strong qualifying campaign: Denmark performed admirably in their qualification campaign for the 2017 European Championship. They won Group B, scoring 24 times and conceding just three times, and ultimately finished with 28 points. Trailing them were Bulgaria (17), Romania and Wales (both 16), Luxembourg (6), and Armenia (1). The only game which saw them drop points was their 0-0 draw against Wales. Only Germany (30) had a more successful qualification campaign than Denmark, and only Italy and England finished the qualifiers having conceded just three goals or less. Marcus Ingvartsen of FC Nordsjaelland scored eight goals in six games and was the Dane’s most dangerous goal-threat.
The manager: Denmark are managed by Niels Frederiksen. His first managerial role came for Lyngby in 2009, and he earned promotion into the top league of Danish football in 2010. He moved to Esbjerg FB in 2013, before taking on the Denmark U21 job on August 27th 2015.
The venue: The game will be played in the Polish city of Krakow, which is home to around 760,000 residents, making it the country’s largest city after Warsaw, which lies 350km away to the Northeast. The Cracovia Stadium is home to KS Cracovia – Poland’s oldest football club, founded in 1906. The stadium opened in 1912, but was torn and down and built anew in 2010. A game between KS Cracovia and Arka Gdynia was played in honour of its re-opening. The UEFA category 3 stadium has a capacity of 15,114, making it the smallest of the six stadiums in use for this year’s U21 EURO. Germany’s U21s are yet to play a game in Krakow.
Quick return: Germany will play their final group-stage game against Italy in Krakow as well, and one of the semi-finals will also take place here.
