PREDICTED LINE-UPS | Italy vs Germany | OneFootball

Italy welcome European rivals Germany to San Siro tonight to play out the first leg of the two-legged Nations League quarter-final tie.

After experiencing a disastrous title defence in Euro 2024, Italy aim to make a statement in the Nations League before heading out for their World Cup preparations. The Azzurri had a near-flawless group stage campaign and their only defeat came against France on the final matchday which put them in second place level on points with Les Bleus.

Luciano Spalletti has a defensive issue to sort out before naming his starting eleven as the absence of Federico Dimarco and the doubt over Andrea Cambiaso’s injury have forced him to look at other options. Destiny Udogie and Matteo Ruggeri are in the running for the left flank. Serie A top scorer MateoRetegui has departed from the training camp due to a muscular issue and therefore a two-man attack is possible.

Meanwhile, Germany come into this match on the back of an unbeaten run in the group stages. The rebuilding job which took over The Germans since their 2014 World Cup triumph seems to be drawing to a close now as Julian Nagelsmann has made them a formidable force this season. Die Mannschaft have long tasted silverware and their eyes are on the Nations League as they go out in full force to succeed.

Nagelsmann will have Leon Goretzka back in the side. Karim Adeyemi and Nadiem Amiri were rewarded for their Bundesliga exploits this season. Kai Havertz, Florian Wirtz, Felix Nmecha and Marc-Andre Ter Stegen could not make it due to injuries.

Here are the predicted line-ups for the match according to Sky Italia:

Italy (3-5-1-1): Donnarumma; Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Calafiori; Politano, Barella, Rovella, Tonali, Udogie; Raspadori; Kean.

Germany (4-2-3-1): Baumann; Kimmich, Rudiger, Tah, Raum; Stiller, Goretzka; Leweling, Musiala, Sané; Kleindienst.

Trambak Bhattacherjee | GIFN