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Spain want their fifth European Championship title in the U21 competition

Germany didn't come here as the favorites, but they are a team that must not be underestimated

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Germany and Spain will play in the U21 European championship final, teams that have left the best impression at the tournament. Germany did not come to Poland as favorites since a lot of their youth stars joined their A team at the Confederation Cup, but Kurtz's team showed that they are not lacking quality. Besides, goalkeeper Pollersbeck's quality was most discussed, but he was their hero in the semi-final since he saved two penalties against England. 

Pollersbeck didn't hide the thrill because they reached the final:

- I love football because of games like this, you wouldn't get this kind of emotion anywhere else. I am happy to be a part of this. During the game, especially at the start, I made some saves that helped the team. In the second half we dominated the pitch and that is why I think we deserve to play in the final. 

Selector Kurtz reflected on the strength of the opponents who are awaiting Germany in the final:

- Spain are playing similarly to Barcelona, Real Madrid and their A team. We will face amazing opponents in the final. We have to stop them from playing their game, we have to use our strengths. After the semi-final we rested our players physically and mentally, it is important that they cleared their heads. 

Selke and Stark suffered minor injuries for Germany, and selector said that he is not sure if they will be able to start the match. Kuntz has been using the 4-2-3-1 formation, and Arnold and Dahoud are expected to start in the central midfield. 

Unlike Germany, Spain's U21 team came to Poland with all their top players which has put Celades' team among the top favorites to win the title. His squad is so good that the players who already proved themselves at the highest level, like Oliver Torres and Munir El Haddadi, were not on the list. After impressive performances in the group stage, Spain easily defeated Italy in the semi-final. They have won 4 U21 European championship titles so far, and with a win in Krakow they would equalize with Italy as the top youth team in history. Tradition is also in their favor, they won 4 out of their 6 head-to-heads against Germany in the U21 competition. 

Celades believes there are no favorites in the final:

- I think we will need great individual performances in the final, good collective effort and great organization. We have to do a lot of right things to win. Things have went well for us so far, Germany are a great football team, we have faced them many times so far, both at the senior and youth levels. It is a big rivalry, we could almost call this match-up a classic. I think they are great opponents. We respect Portugal and Italy who are great teams, but Germany are in the final. There are no miracles, they have a lot of talent and we will have to show more than in the previous games. We are ready to face Germany with the best mentality. Mental aspect is more important than the physical one in the final. 

No one is struggling with injuries in the Spanish team, so it is not expected that Celades will make any changes to the starting lineup that defeated Italy in the semi-final. Spain should play in the 4-3-3 formation with dangerous Marco Asensio and Gerard Delofeu as wingers.