Italy vs. Germany lineups, expected starting 11, confirmed team news, injuries: Striker position thin for both nations

Two European football blue bloods yet to taste UEFA Nations League glory have been drawn together in the quarterfinals as Italy play host to Germany in the first leg at the San Siro in Milan on Thursday.

Neither side has reached the final of this competition, with only Italy reaching the semifinals previously, having finished third on the past two occasions. Germany, meanwhile, are somehow in just their first Nations League knockout stage, failing to qualify in each of the first three iterations.

Both sides have injury issues at the striker position, leaving them searching for answers. Germany are without Kai Havertz and Florian Wirtz, while Italy deal with the absence of Mateo Retegui.

These two nations produced a thriller the last time they met, with Germany running away as 5-2 winners in Dortmund three years ago in the group stage of this competition. Italy have not beaten Germany since the semifinals of Euro 2012, going six straight without victory across all competitions.

The Sporting News runs through the latest team news and injury updates for both sides as the match draws nearer.

Italy vs. Germany lineups, predicted starting 11, team news

Mateo Retegui was set to lead the Italy line thanks to his good club form with Atalanta this year, but he was forced to withdraw from the squad due to a thigh strain.

He joins Federico Dimarco on the sideline who has been out with a hamstring injury, while Gianluca Scamacca‘s awful injury-stricken season leaves him on the outside as well.

Veterans midfielder Jorginho has not been called in since last summer’s Euros as head coach Luciano Spaletti continues to build a core of the nation’s younger, more long-term options.

Italy predicted XI (3-5-2, right to left): Donnarumma (GK) — Di Lorenzo, Bastoni, Buongiorno — Cambiaso, Frattesi, Barella, Tonali, Udogie — Raspadori, Politano.

Injured: Dimarco (hamstring), Retegui (thigh), Scamacca (hamstring).
Suspended: None.

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Donnarumma, Alex Meret, Guglielmo Vicario.

Defenders: Alessandro Bastoni, Raoul Bellanova, Alessandro Buongiorno, Riccardo Calafiori, Andrea Cambiaso, Pietro Comuzzo, Giovanni Di Lorenzo, Federico Gatti, Destiny Udogie, Matteo Ruggeri.

Midfielders: Nicolo Barella, Cesare Casadei, Davide Frattesi, Samuele Ricci, Nicolo Rovella, Sandro Tonali.

Forwards: Moise Kean, Lorenzo Lucca, Daniel Maldini, Matteo Politano, Giacomo Raspadori, Mattia Zaccagni.

Germany will be without the exceptional Florian Wirtz who picked up a knee injury two weeks ago and misses out. Kai Havertz and Niclas Fullkrug are also absent due to injury, while Aleksandar Pavlovic is laid low with illness.

One of the biggest questions for boss Julian Nagelsmann is whether to deploy Josh Kimmich in midfield, where he has excelled this season for Bayern Munich, or at right-back where he’s played for the national team in recent games.

Manuel Neuer has retired from international duty, so the hunt to replace him in goal continues in the absence of Marc-Andre ter Stegen who is out for the season with an ACL tear.

Germany predicted XI (4-2-3-1, right to left): Nubel (GK) — Gosens, Tah, Rudiger, Mittelstaedt — Andrich, Kimmich — Sane, Musiala, Adeyemi — Kleindienst.

Injured: Wirtz (knee), Havertz (hamstring), Fullkrug (hamstring), Pavlovic (mono), ter Stegen (ACL).
Suspended: None.

Goalkeepers: Oliver Baumann, Alexander Nubel, Stefan Ortega.

Defenders: Yann Aurel Bisseck, Joshua Kimmich, Robin Koch, Max Mittelstaedt, David Raum, Antonio Rudiger, Nico Schlotterbeck, Jonathan Tah.

Midfielders: Karim Adeyemi, Nadiem Amiri, Robert Andrich, Leon Goretzka, Pascal Gross, Jamie Leweling, Jamal Musiala, Leroy Sane, Angelo Stiller.

Forwards: Jonathan Burkhardt, Tim Kleindienst, Deniz Undav.

Italy vs. Germany live stream, TV channel

Here’s how to watch this UEFA Nations League quarterfinal match across selected areas of the world’s major regions: