Germany faces Italy in UEFA Nations League quarter-finals

Germany will play Italy on Thursday in the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals at San Siro in Milan. This match will be Germany's first game of 2025. In their last encounter in June 2022, Germany won decisively, beating Italy 5-2. The team has been strong, remaining unbeaten in six matches since they lost to Spain in the European Championship last year. They finished at the top of their group with an impressive goal difference of 18-4. Italy finished second in their group, tied on points with France, but lost their last group match 3-1 to France, which was their only defeat. Italy will be missing defender Federico Dimarco because of a hamstring injury. Germany will also face challenges, as midfielder Florian Wirtz is suspended and will miss both legs of the match due to an ankle injury. Goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen is out as well. This leaves Alexander Nübel and Oliver Baumann to compete for the starting position. Other players absent for Germany include Kai Havertz, Benjamin Henrichs, Felix Nmecha, and Aleksandar Pavlovic due to injuries and illness.