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Defending champions Germany are continuing their bid to secure another Under 21 European Championship this week. They are going up against Romania – the dark horses in this tournament. We’ve seen some impressive displays from Germany yet again, as a nearly entirely new squad looks to emulate the achievements of 2017. Can they stamp their authority on this tournament with a victory on Thursday?
The Germans made a flying start to the group, kicking off with a 3-1 win over Denmark. They then trounced Serbia 6-1 in their second game, all but securing their place in the semis. All Germany needed in their last group game was a 1-1 draw with Austria, which saw them make it through as the top side in Group B. Their next aim is to book a place in this weekend’s final.
Romania booked their place in the second round in surprise fashion, topping Group C. They made a great start with two wins in their opening two games, while they played out a 0-0 draw in their final clash with France. That draw was quite a shift from their opening games – which saw 11 goals between them. That’s because a point guaranteed both Romania and France a semi-final spot, so neither side wanted to take any risks in that clash.
Romania are likely to up their game in this semi-final, as they look to get back to their early attacking ways. They won their opening two clashes by scoring four goals in each. They put four past England in just 14 minutes in their second game, so they should be out to take the game to Germany in Thursday’s first semi-final clash. That comes after they scored 13 goals in the five matches before the tournament began, so this Romania side are obviously packing a punch going forward. However, you can say the same about reigning champions Germany.
The Germans hit 10 goals of their own in the group stage, so we can expect a high scoring clash on Thursday in Bologna. They have seen both teams score in their last six games ahead of this encounter with Romania, so we expect goals between two sides who clearly have little trouble creating chances for themselves. We anticipate an open game between these two, so we’re going with both teams to score as our main tip for this semi. We’re also backing Germany to edge the tie with a 2-1 victory.