The main football events in Europe at the end of May and beginning of June took place in Germany. On the last day of last month, Munich hosted the Champions League final, which saw PSG defeat Inter Milan. A few days later, the local national team will start its journey in the UEFA Nations League Final Four. Of Europe's top five football nations only Italy and Germany have not won the continent's second most important tournament. Portugal, on the contrary, won it before the others. The first draw of the Nations League ended with the triumph of the "European Brazilians". For Germany, the home Final Four is not only a good opportunity to win the Nations League, but also to give the new German generation of footballers a decent boost of self-confidence. It's been too long since the Bundestim have won anything significant. The last trophy the German squad won in 2014, when they took the World Cup away from Brazil. Bookmakers have identified the hosts as favourites for the upcoming meeting, offering odds of 1.83 on their victory.

The last major football tournament, the 2024 European Championship, was also held in Germany. The German team was considered one of the key favourites, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals by the efforts of the future triumphants - Spain. The group stage of the Nations League Group A was an easy walk for the German team. At the end of six rounds, the Germans lost only four of the eighteen possible points, playing away in a draw with the Netherlands and Hungary. In the quarter-finals of the play-offs Germany were stronger than Italy, but in the return leg they allowed their opponents to come back from 0:3 down.

Portugal have been moving in unison with their upcoming opponents for the past couple of years. At the EURO, Ronaldo and company crashed out at the same stage as the Germans, and in the A-League group they picked up exactly the same number of points as the Bundestim. In the quarter-finals against Denmark, the Portuguese proved their advantage over Denmark only in the extra time of the return leg in Lisbon. Germany is Portugal's most uncomfortable opponent in European football. Since 2006, the Portuguese have lost all five of their matches. To all appearances, the Germans will dominate the upcoming encounter.