Where will Germany v Spain semi-final be won and lost?

Germany will be the underdogs when they face Spain for a spot in the Euro 2025 final, which is not often.

Spain has never reached a Women’s European Championship final before, but the 2023 World Cup winners have excelled all the way there and are Switzerland’s only unbeaten team standing.

Germany, which has won eight times before, has potential squad depth issues, suffered a significant defeat in the group stage, and had to come from behind against France, who were forced to play for the majority of the game with just 10 players, to win on penalties.

However, Spain have lost their previous two meetings with Germany, losing to Switzerland with a score of 2-0 in the final eight.

Despite Spain’s expansive, possession-based football throughout Euro 2025, Germany has been a different story.

After Kathrin Hendrich was sent off in the 13th minute, they were forced to defend against France, and they finished their quarter-final with only 25.6% possession.

Germany’s level was lower than usual, but even in games with different dynamics they didn’t concentrate as much on holding the ball.

At Euro 2025, Spain had the most possession on average, with 73.5%, while Germany had the sixth-most possession at 53.6%, which is the highest of any nation.

Spain is the best team in the competition, along with any other country’s passing accuracy, number of passes into the final third, and total passes.

They have the third-highest number of significant chances, on average, while Germany is ranked 10th.

On Wednesday, Germany manager Christian Wuck predicted that his side would “suffer” and have limited possession, but they would “find the right moments.”

His team has a good chance to attack on the break, but they’ll likely have to wait a long time without the ball.

Germany must recover from a quarter-final where they were physically unable to play for 107 minutes and play with less players available.

Hendrich has received a red card, and Chelsea’s Sjoeke Nusken has received a two-goal yellow card.

And Germany are severely lacking in full-backs: captain Giulia Gwinn has been sidelined since picking up an injury in their opening group game while captain Sarai Linder has been knocked out for the rest of the tournament with ankle ligament damage sustained against France.

Germany may experience fatigue all over, but Carlotta Wamser’s return from suspension helps them.

Only Laia Aleixandri, who has been suspended, will be able to play for Spain on Wednesday, leaving them with almost the entire squad.

The addition of a day to rest and prepare also benefits Montse Tome’s side.

Spain’s squad depth, with a large number of top-notch players available off the bench, will be another big plus.

Athenea del Castillo, who defeated Switzerland in their quarter-final victory, broke the deadlock with a score of 3-0. This depth has proved crucial at Euro 2025.

However, Tome believes that Germany will “compete to the limit” despite having less time to prepare.

Spain has been a constant presence at Euro 2025. No team has ever scored or produced the expected goals.

In all of their games, they have controlled the ball in the opposition’s half and created chances. They have been dominant in the final third.

They defeated Portugal 5-0 and Belgium 6-2 in their final four matches, totaling 16 goals.

Alexia Putellas has three goals and four assists, making Esther Gonzalez the top scorer at Euro 2025.

Germany has scored six goals from just three players, while they have nine total scorers.

Germany can expect a test of endurance from Spain, who dominates the ball and keeps pressing in the final third.

We’ll try to have possession, Tome said, but how we’ll do it might be different.

They have changed their defense, according to the tournament, and it is different. We determine how to attack those spaces once they are clear of where they can leave them.

Germany has focused its efforts elsewhere, while Spain has dominated in the opposing half.

Two of Germany’s six goals were scored by Jule Brand, who played mostly wide while also moving inside.

In the middle of the pitch, Spain will try to stop Germany from threaten down the flanks.

Spanish midfielder Putellas remarked, “We want to have control of the game.” We are aware that most of the time, we must keep the ball.

Spain can control play down the center, according to evidence from previous games.

However, Germany can take comfort from the way that Switzerland’s quarter-final defeat caused Spain problems.

Former England international Izzy Christiansen said that Spain “know they have to improve” after the game.

You might ask, “You wonder if Spain had put on a higher-level performance if they had been playing a higher-level team.”