Bordeaux: Europe’s titans clash when Germany and Italy meet in the plum Euro 2016 quarter-final with huge stakes for both countries. Germany captain Bastian Schweinsteiger is poised to make his first start, while Italy’s veteran defender Daniele de Rossi faces a race to be fit.
Like two heavyweight boxers eyeing up their opponent before the first bell, both teams have talked up the respect factor and down played the significance of Italy winning the last eight meetings at major tournaments.
In the most recent matches, Italy claimed a 2-1 win in the Euro 2012 semifinals while Germany romped to a 4-1 win in a meaningless friendly in March.
Joachim Loew’s Germany insists they have no ‘Italy trauma’ as they look to beat the Azzurri at the ninth attempt on a big stage and throw off their Italian shackles.
Antonio Conte’s Italy has comparedss taking on the world champions as football’s equivalent of ‘climbing Everest’.
However, Italy has a rare unbeaten record over Germany at major tournaments. “It doesn’t mean anything to me that we have never beaten Italy in a big tournament”, said Germany midfielder Toni Kroos.
But the question will be whether previous failures appear at the back of German minds should Italy take the lead in Bordeaux. Torino striker Ciro Immobile, who spent an unhappy season at Borussia Dortmund, is not impressed with the respectful noises coming from the Germans.
“We’ve beaten them so many times... they’re just trying to cover themselves,” he said.
