The qualifying phase for next year’s European Championships come to an end with the final pair of matches, with the Nationalmannschaft looking to close out what has been an at times fraught campaign with six more points against the Republic of Ireland and Georgia. After picking up all six points last month against Poland and Scotland, Nationaltrainer Joachim Löw will be looking to repeat the trick and see his team finish top of the standings.
With no additional injury problems to worry about, Löw has been able to name an almost unchanged squad for the games in Dublin and Leipzig – with just the one switch as Bayer Leverkusen ‘keeper Bernd Leno is called up for the first time in place of Ron-Robert Zieler. Having had to pull out of squad with injury last time around, Borussia Dortmund’s Marco Reus will be looking to add to his international tally.
Having conceded a last minute equaliser against the Irish in Gelsenkirchen last year, Germany will be hoping to turn out a far better performance against a tough Irish side who are still fighting for a place in next year’s finals, while the final outing at the Red Bull Arena will hopefully be a celebration against the already eliminated Georgians.
Ahead of the game in Dublin, it should be worth noting that Germany’s last visit to the Aviva Stadium in October 2012 saw the Mannschaft stroll to an easy 6-1 win – with Reus netting a brace.
Goalkeepers:
Bernd Leno (Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 0/0)
Manuel Neuer (FC Bayern München, 60/0)
Marc-André ter Stegen (FC Barcelona, 4/0)
Defence:
Jérôme Boateng (FC Bayern München, 54/0)
Emre Can (Liverpool FC, 2/0)
Matthias Ginter (BV 09 Borussia Dortmund, 5/0)
Jonas Hector (1. FC Köln, 7/0)
Mats Hummels (BV 09 Borussia Dortmund, 41/4)
Shkodran Mustafi (Valencia CF, 8/0)
Sebastian Rudy (TSG 1899 Hoffenheim, 9/0)
Midfield:
Karim Bellarabi (Bayer 04 Leverkusen, 8/1)
İlkay Gündoğan (BV 09 Borussia Dortmund, 13/4)
Christoph Kramer (Borussia Mönchengladbach, 11/0)
Toni Kroos (Real Madrid CF, 60/9)
Thomas Müller (FC Bayern München, 65/30)
Mesut Özil (Arsenal FC, 68/18)
Lukas Podolski (Galatasaray SK, 126/48)
Marco Reus (BV 09 Borussia Dortmund, 25/9)
André Schürrle (VfL Wolfsburg, 47/20)
Bastian Schweinsteiger (Manchester United, 113/23)
Forwards:
Mario Götze (FC Bayern München, 47/16)
Max Kruse (VfL Wolfsburg, 13/3)
Kevin Volland (1899 Hoffenheim, 3/0)