Having won the World Cup two years ago, Germany are hoping to repeat their feat of the 1970's - when they clinched the Euro title in 1972, followed by the World Cup in 1974. Of course, there are numerous teams at UEFA Euro 2016 who will be keen on stopping them, including reigning champions Spain and hosts France. Next up on the menu for die Mannschaft will be debutants Slovakia keen on making their mark, and recently managed to give Joachim Löw's men some trouble in their last meeting.
Germany have yet to hit full stride, but they nonetheless have been very efficient. Die Mansnchaft topped their group without losing or conceding a goal, and now will be expected to crank it up several notches if they wish to proceed in this tournament.
Against Ukraine, they came out on top, but it was far from a convincing performance. In fact, were it not for an impressive goal-line clearance from Jerome Boateng, Löw's side would have conceded a goal during the first half. The Ukrainians put up a good fight, and indeed, until Bastian Schweinsteiger's very late goal, Germany looked far from comfortable.
In their second game, despite putting in a good defensive shift, their attack left something to desired as they had to settle for a frustrating scoreless stalemate. Finally, in their final group stage match, they again struggled against a very defensive Northern Ireland side, who parked the bus for pretty much the entire match in an attempt to hold out for a draw.
And despite Mario Gomez finally breaking the deadlock in the 30th minute, they were still unable to add more goals in an overall frustrating game for the World Cup champions.
Mario Gomez celebrates scoring Germany's only goal to earn die Mannschaft all three points against Northern Ireland - which guaranteed Germany top spot in their quartet
Still, although Germany have only scoring three goals thus far, Löw's troops are nonetheless the heavy favorites to progress in their upcoming tie with Slovakia. Three key players - Mesut Ozil, Sami Khedira, and Boateng, should he be fit to feature - will need to be careful, as they are all one booking away from a ban.
Meanwhile, Ján Kozák's men have been pretty solid so far in their debut Euro campaign. Slovakia, who were placed in Group B, secured their spot in the round of 16 thanks to being the highest-placed third place side. Despite losing their opener 2-1 against fellow new-boys Wales, the Repre rebounded with an excellent performance to dispatch Russia 2-1. They then followed that up with by holding England - a side that were expected to beat them easily - to a stalemate to wrap things up with four points.
Napoli skipper Marek Hamšík has played a vital role in Slovakia's progression to the round of 16 in their debut Euro tournament
By far, the go-to man for Slovakia has been Napoli's star Marek Hamšík. The 28-year-old scored one of the best goals of the tournament and set up another in their 2-1 win over Russia, meaning that he has been directly involved in all but one of his team's three goals thus far.
Kozák will be heavily counting on Hamšík, who was also in inspired form during their surprise 3-1 over Germany last month. Of course, that was an experimental German side, and Slovakia will be taking on a much stronger opponent than what they saw in May.
Expect Kozák to deploy the same 4-5-1 side that held England to a draw as they hope to keep die Mannschaft at bay for as long as possible, and there will be numerous players that will have to stay on the right side of the official's book for Saturday's match.
In fact, seven Slovak players - Vladimir Weiss, Jan Durica, Martin Škrtel, Viktor Pečovský, Juraj Kucka, Patrik Hrošovský, and Robert Mak - will all miss out on the quarter-final should Slovakia manage to pull off an upset against Germany.
Not able to make it to the Stade Pierre Mauroy? No problem. LiveSoccerTV.com has put together options to tune in via TV, computer, phone, or tablet.
Here are all the choices for fans residing elsewhere in France and in the following countries:
- In the USA at 12.00 EST on: ESPN, WatchESPN, ESPN3 USA, SiriusXM FC, ESPN Deportes Radio, ESPN Deportes TV
- In Germany at 18.00 CET on: ZDF, ORF TV Live Streaming, Sport1.FM, ORF 1, SRF zwei
- In Slovakia at 18.00 CET on: RTVS Live Streaming, STV2 Dvojka
- In France at 18.00 CET on: beIN Sports 1, beIN SPORTS CONNECT France
- In the UK at 17.00 BST on: ITV 1 UK, TalkSport Radio UK, BBC Radio 5 Live, The ITV Hub
- In Canada at 12.00 ET on: TSN3, TSN4, TSN1, TSN Radio 1040 | 1410 Vancouver, RDS
Live elsewhere? Check out our special Germany vs Slovakia broadcast page for viewing times and options for your current location.
*Note: Live broadcast data is subject to change*
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