They may have won the World Cup but they have not been able to continue winning. Germany, following the retirements of key figures such as Philipp Lahm and Miroslav Klose have struggled in Euro 2016 qualifying. Seven points from four matches to date in Group D and a spot behind Poland, although good enough for qualification, is definitely much less than the standard expected from Germany.
They played a warm-up friendly to get ready for their recent fixture against Georgia. However, Joachim Löw's team did not play as well as they can (not doing well in friendly fixtures is fairly common for Germany though). After Marco Reus opened the scoring, his side fell behind the Australians rather quickly. A late Lukas Podolski goal was needed to rescue the Germans.
Holger Badstuber started that friendly. He has a minor muscular problem and has been left out as a precaution, especially in light of his injury history. Karim Bellarabi is also out due to illness. Without Badstuber, Löw might decide to revert back to a four man backline instead of the three. In any case, three men at the back did not work out well.
Manuel Neuer, who recently turned 29, will be back in between the posts for Germany. The Germans have managed two wins up to date: a narrow 2-1 win over Scotland thanks to two Thomas Müller strikes and a 4-0 win over minnows Gibraltar. They lost to Poland, 2-0 and drew against the Republic of Ireland, 1-1.
Georgia beat Gibraltar 0-3; this is their sole win of the campaign thus far. They have three points to their name. They have met Germany three times overall, losing all three matches. The only competitive meetings between the two sides came in Euro 1996 qualifying when German won at home, 4-1 and away from home, 0-2.
Can Germany get some points on the board and keep up with Poland in Group D? Interested in learning more about Euro 2016 Qualifying? Check out our Euro 2016 Qualifying Page.
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