Germany U21 vs Slovenia U21 preview: Team news & predicted lineups – U21 Euros 2025 | OneFootball

Antonio Di Salvo’s side will kickstart their U21 Euros adventure with a game against Group B’s underdogs, Slovenia. England and the Czech Republic – the other teams in the group – previously won the biannual tournament.

Germany last won the U21 Euros in 2021, four years after their second triumph. Di Salvo’s reign started after that, but he failed to progress from the group stage two years ago after defeats to the Czech Republic and England. Before facing those exact opponents once again, Germany will hope for a winning start in Nitra.

Slovenia finished ahead of France in their qualification group to book only their second participation. It was their first successful qualification campaign since they co-hosted their previous tournament experience alongside Hungary (2021).

On the opening day of this year’s edition, record champions Spain and Italy secured narrow victories against hosts Slovakia and Romania, respectively. The much-awaited fixture ended in a goalless draw between France and Portugal, while Georgia stunned Poland with a dramatic 2-1 win.

Team News

Germany U21

As was the case in the previous few editions, Germany brought a squad full of Bundesliga starters for the youth tournament. Bright Arrey-Mbi and Brajan Gruda, who both left Germany last summer, are the only foreign-based players from the 23-man squad.

Between the sticks, Noah Atubolu spent his best season with SC Freiburg as he broke the club record for the most consecutive minutes without conceding a goal. In front of him, Nnamdi Collins and Nathaniel Brown will hope to shine after helping Eintracht Frankfurt qualify for the Champions League in their breakout season.

Bayer Leverkusen’s new signing Tim Oermann, who will spend next season on loan at Austrian champions Sturm Graz, is another interesting prospect in Germany’s defensive department.

When it comes to creativity, Brighton’s Gruda will hopefully share the burden with his former teammate Paul Nebel as well as highly-rated midfielders Rocco Reitz and Paul Wanner.

Fresh from his first games for the Nationalmannschaft, Pokal winner Nick Woltemade will lead the attacking line. The Italian-born striker Nicolò Tresoldi, who completed his move from the second-tier Hannover to Club Brugge, will also be keen to make his mark.

Slovenia U21

On home soil in 2021, Slovenia only scored a single goal on their way to finishing bottom of a tough group that had Spain and Italy. However, the qualification stage showed that they assembled a stronger team this time around.

Tio Cipot scored six of Slovenia’s 13 goals in the qualifiers. The 22-year-old striker also played a big part in securing Grazer AK’s Austria Bundesliga status with three goals in the relegation playoff. Attacking midfielder Svit Seslar, who plays his football at NK Celje, is another key player in Andrej Razdrh’s inexperienced squad.

There is one German-based player in the team with Köln’s Jaka Cuber Potocnik winning his first U21 cap in the last international break. The striker had a strong finish in the Regionalliga season, and he also made his first-team debut in Köln’s promotion season.

Milenko Acimovic was the coach during the 2021 tournament and this year’s qualification stage, but he handed the responsibility to Razdrh after being promoted to Slovenia’s technical director role.

Germany U21 vs. Slovenia U21: Predicted Lineups

Germany U21: Atubolu; Collins, Oermann, Arrey-Mbi, Brown; Martel ©, Reitz; Knauff, Gruda, Nebel; Woltemade

Slovenia U21: Turk ©; Kuzmic, Zeljkovic, Ilenič, Milic; Ostrc, Jevsenak; Begic, Cipot, Seslar; Potocnik