Germany vs Italy – International Friendly – Preview

Posted on March 29, 2016 by Sreya

Germany hosts Italy at the Allianz Arena, Munich in an international friendly on 29th March as the final international break of the season draws to a close. With both European giants setting their sights on the 2016 Euro set to happen in France in the upcoming summer, this friendly match will play into the preparation strategies of both managers.

While Joachim Low has called for improvements from his German side after they lost 3-2 to an inexperienced English team, Antonio Conte is hoping his players will start finishing matches after a 1-1 draw against Spain.

Team News

Bastian Schweinsteiger has been ruled out with a knee injury while Max Kruse was dropped. Italy will be without Andrea Barzagli, Ciro Immobile, Giacomo Bonaventura and Marco Veratti – all of the players sidelined through injuries.

While Joachim Low will ring in changes to the side which succumbed after taking a 2-0 lead against England, Antonio Conte might persist with the 3-4-3 formation which benefited the Azzuris against the Spaniards.

Germany Possible Starting Lineup: Manuel Neuer, Sebastian Rudy, Shkodran Mustafi, Jonathan Tah, Jonas Hector, Toni Kroos, Sami Khedira, Karim Bellarabi, Julian Draxler, Thomas Muller, Mario Gotze.

Italy Possible Starting Lineup: Gianluigi Buffon, Davide Astori, Leonardo Bonucci, Matteo Darmian, Alessandro Florenzi, Thiago Motta, Jorginho, Federico Bernardeschi, Stephan El Shaarawy, Simone Zaza, Lorenzo Insigne.

Thoughts From Both Camps

“The world champions are automatically among the favourites to win the European title, but so are France, Belgium, Italy and Spain – they all have the ambition to win the title. I did not see Italy’s game against Spain, but I have been told they put in a great performance. Italy are always among the favourites at the Euros. They will be very competitive. We weren’t always convincing during our qualifying campaign and we need to learn from that. We have to improve before the Euros in the summer.”

– Joachim Low, Germany.

“We are going to Munich to get a victory. We want to win and show how strong we are. I also see it as a chance to get revenge for our Champions League exit against Bayern Munich.”

– Simone Zaza, Italy.

Contributor’s Pick

According to Head-2-Head statistics, Germany have never won a competitive match against Italy. Even when friendlies are factored in, Italy have an impressive record against the Germans – winning on fifteen occasions and losing just seven matches. The last time these two sides faced each other was in November 2013 when Ignazio Abate cancelled out Mats Hummels’ opener as it ended 1-1 in Milan.

It should be a closely contested affair with a 2-2 draw being the most probable outcome.