Germany, fresh from their 3-0 win over Bulgaria, take on UEFA European Under 19 Championship holders Serbia on Tuesday evening. The game takes place in the Perutz Stadion, Papa. Both teams will be looking for a win, which will push the victor closer to the semi-finals and almost assure them of a place in the FIFA Under 20 World Cup next year.

By far the favourites to progress from their group, Germany dispatched Bulgaria with ease, but Serbia came up against a resilient Ukraine side. Mykyta Burda's header gave the Ukrainians a surprise first minute lead, but that was quickly canceled out by captain Nemanja Maksimović's prodded finish. Thereafter, Serbia were dominatant, but could not make their chances and possession pay and the game ended in a 1-1 draw.

Despite the result, Serbia coach, Veljko Paunović, was happy with his players' efforts, "We controlled the game, we tried to win it all the time. A bad start made us play a bit differently to usual until we got level. Once we did equalise, we started playing our own game, how we planned. We tried to score the second goal and had more chances. I'm very satisfied with my guys; they gave their all and did their best, and that's what we ask."

Paunović was speaking to UEFA.com after the match, "We ask them to play the game that we prepared, we had a game plan and we did well defensively despite that first-minute goal. That's football and it can happen. We hit the post a couple of times and put together some good moves. Sometimes you need some more precision in the final moments. We are satisfied, not with the result but with our players and our team."

Serbia will be going all out for the win on Tuesday, as they won't want to give up their crown that easily. Germany will also be expecting a much tighter game than they had against Bulgaria, but will still be confident of claiming all three points and booking their place in the Under 20 World Cup. As Paunović said, Serbia were deserving of a win and the 1-1 draw didn't do his side justice. They'll be hoping that Veljko Simić steps up to the plate, the young Basel attacking midfielder averages a goal every-other-game for the Serbia under 19 squad and will be looking for him to provide a cutting edge against the Germans.

However, while Serbia are looking to make headway against Germany, 'die Nationalmannschaft' will have two of their star players available for selection. Levin Öztunalı and Julian Brandt have both been given leave by Bayer Leverkusen and will make their way to Hungary for the game against Serbia. A massive boost for coach Marcus Sorg, who was ecstatic with his side's 3-0 win, "We're very happy with the game. It was very important for us to start the tournament with a victory and we're very pleased to have done that. Obviously the goal in the first minute helped us a lot but in general we were very good tactically, we were well organised and played well."

Sorg, who spoke to UEFA.com, was particularly pleased with how well his team performed and how well they executed his game-plan, "We pressed Bulgaria high to pressure them in defence; that's our game. I'm very happy with how we did that because the players are all at different stages of preparation in their clubs. Some have been working for five days, some for several weeks, and I was pleased to see the energy we showed.

However, Sorg wanted to reinforce that not everything went perfectly, "We wanted to make our opponents tired by keeping the ball.  "When it's that hot on the pitch that's not always easy, but generally we did it well. Bulgaria have plenty of quality, and we saw that. Sometimes when you're 3-0 up you don't go too hard into tackles and that was what was missing in the second half."

The whole Germany team performed to an extremely high and professional level, as you would expect, with the attacking quartet of Davie Selke, Marc Stendera, Benjamin Trümner and Jeremy Dudziak causing constant problems for the Bulgaria defence. Nicklas Stark was imperious in the heart of midfield, as Hany Mukhtar pulled the strings in front of him. The defence was solid, nothing out of the ordinary from the country that looks set to dominate world football.

The man who now has seven goals in his last six competitive under 19 games, thanks to his brace against Bulgaria, Davie Selke, told UEFA.com of his delight at the goal-scoring exploits, "I'm definitely very happy. It's very important to start the tournament with a win and I'm delighted to have been able to contribute to that with two goals. Everyone was telling me I'd score an early goal and I said 'We'll see!'" he beamed. "Getting such a great start, with the early goal, was really important and helped us a lot. The goals were both great passes and I'm happy I was able to convert them. It was very, very important. We're taking it step by step, game by game, but starting with a win was vital. We want to be more concentrated, lose the ball less often and make sure we win the next game as well."

The forward is keen to impress his boss back at Werder Bremen, "I feel great at the moment," he said. "It's a great pleasure to play for Germany and to do so in an international tournament is all the better. At Bremen I was promoted to the first-team squad, I've had a look at it and I can taste it a little bit – and that makes me feel pretty good. I know my coach at Bremen, Robin Dutt, is in close contact with Marcus Sorg and maybe he'll see these games. I don't think it'll be a disadvantage to put in some good performances here."

As much as the Serbs will prove Germany's toughest test until the semi-final stage, it'll be hard to see anyone, even the Portuguese, beating the Germans in the tournament. The returns of Öztunalı and Brandt will further improve the favourites, not that they need improving, so the Serbs will be up against it from the get-go. However, if the holders play the football that they are capable of, they will rove a stern test and push Germany all the way.

Predicted line-ups:

Germany XI: Schnitzler; Akpoguma, Kempf, Syhre, Holthaus; Stark, Öztunalı; Stendera, Mukhtar, Brandt; Selke.

Serbia XI: Rajković; Gajić, Stevanović, Jovanović, Ristić; Maksimović, Zdjelar; Gaćinović, Simić, Živković; Mandić.

Prediction: Germany 2-0 Serbia

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About the author
Jonathan Walsh
SoccerSight IFA commentator. VAVEL deputy editor-in-chief/VAVEL Bundesliga editor-in-chief and writer. Email: [email protected]