Spain v Germany LIVE: Result and reaction as Merino sinks Germany with 120th-minute winner

Spain XI: Unai Simon; Carvajal, Le Normand, Laporte, Cucurella; Pedri, Rodri, Fabian Ruiz; Yamal, Morata, Williams

Germany XI: Neuer; Kimmich, Rudiger, Tah, Raum; Kroos, Can; Sane, Gundogan, Musiala; Havertz

Over the last few days, the England players have felt a “shift” in training. There’s even been a lightness to some of the heavier work. Many of the squad felt the benefit of proper time with the family on Tuesday. Part of that is down to the breathing space that comes from a bit of a break, but most of it is from the release of Jude Bellingham’s goal against Slovakia.

The line all week has been that this is a “turning point”, even coming up repeatedly in team meetings. Gareth Southgate himself set that idea in the euphoria after the Slovakia game, openly talking about how it could be similar to Paul Gascoigne’s goal against Scotland at Euro ‘96. One of his “leadership group”, John Stones, was only too willing to take up the thread.

Gareth Southgate says England have to be “ready to go right to the depths again” in Saturday’s crunch European Championship quarter-final against Switzerland.

The eyes of the nation will be focused on Dusseldorf as the Euro 2020 runners-up continue their quest to go one better by taking on the side 19th in FIFA’s world rankings.

England are fifth in those standings but have yet to show those standards in Germany, where they topped Group C in unconvincing fashion before narrowly avoiding humiliation last weekend.

Turkey defender Merih Demiral has been banned for two games by Uefa following a gesture he made during his side’s last-16 win against Austria on Tuesday and will miss Saturday’s Euro 2024 quarter-final against Netherlands.

The 26-year-old centre back scored twice in a 2-1 win over the Austrians to send his side into the last eight for the first time since 2008, and celebrated by making a “wolf” gesture with his fingers.

Uefa have charged Jude Bellingham with “violating the basic rules of decent conduct”, but the player will not face an immediate ban.

England midfielder Bellingham was facing a ban after Uefa opened an investigation into a gesture he made while celebrating his spectacular overhead kick against Slovakia in the last-16 tie last Sunday.

In the aftermath of his goal, Bellingham was seen shouting “Who else?!” as he ran over to England fans after scoring. The Video showed the Real Madrid forward then kiss his hand and grab his crotch in a gesture which appeared to be directed towards the side of the pitch.

Here’s a look at how the two nations compare from a statistical standpoint, after four matches apiece at Euro 2024, with Spain’s score first and Germany’s second:

Goals per game - (ESP) 2.3 - 2.5 (GER)

Average possession - 59.5% - 65.8%

Big chances created - 17 - 12

Expected goals - 8.9 - 7.7

Actual goals - 9 - 10

Shot conversion rate - 11% - 13.9%

xG conceded - 3.3 - 3.0

Actual conceded - 1 - 2

Euro 2024 is heading to the quarter-finals after an entertaining start to the knockout rounds saw eight more nations exit the tournament.

Spain were the only team to collect the maximum nine points in the group phase and they continued their impressive form with a 4-1 win over Georgia. Switzerland and Germany both progressed to the quarter-finals with 2-0 wins, but it was much harder work for France, England and Portugal who respectively required a late own goal, a very late equaliser/extra-time winner and a penalty shootout to go through.

Here, we assess how every Euro 2024 nation stacks up before the quarter-finals (these rankings are revised after each round of games).

Exactly one year ago Lamine Yamal was playing in the quarter-finals of the U17 European Championships in front of only a few hundred supporters. Skipping past defenders for fun, he registered an assist and scored once in Spain’s 3-0 victory over the Republic of Ireland.

At just 15 years old, he was one of the youngest players competing in the U17 competition at the time. Yet he already stood out among his peers, finishing as the joint top-scorer of the tournament – despite Spain crashing out to France in the semi-final.

Fast forward a year, he’s now the youngest player competing at Euro 2024, with his boyish smile revealing braces, his joyful approach to the game providing a captivating subplot to Friday’s European Championship quarter-final with hosts Germany. To say it has been a whirlwind 12 months for the Barcelona winger would be an understatement.

Our feature piece on the Spanish starlet, for Premium subscribers:

The winner of this one will meet either Portugal or France in the semi-finals for another mouth-watering tie.

Here’s a closer look at the draw: