Germany hosts France in the first-ever UEFA Nations League match in front of a packed-house at Allianz Arena in Munich on Thursday, September 6.
When does the match start and how to watch it live
The UEFA League of Nations match between Germany and France will start at 8:45 pm local time, 7:45 pm BST and 12:15 am IST (Friday).
Sony Ten 2 and Sony Ten 2 HD will provide live television coverage of the match in India. The live stream will be available on Sony Liv.
What to expect from the UEFA Nations League opener
There is a lot of hype surrounding the Nations League as it promises to reduce the number of meaningless international friendlies.
55 teams in Europe have been divided into four Leagues and each of them has four groups. Top 12 teams according to their Uefa coefficients are part of League A.
France and Germany have been drawn alongside the Netherlands in Group A 1 and the winners of the last two editions of Fifa World Cup will kickstart the tournament.
Joachim Low's Germany suffered one of their biggest lows at the recently-concluded Fifa World Cup in Russia as they failed to get past the group stages. Mesut Ozil's dramatic retirement from the national side and the subsequent blame game only added to the negative atmosphere in the Die Mannschaft camp.
However, the 2014 World Cup winners have a good opportunity to put the Russian disappointment behind and start afresh.
Germany ready to make amends for World Cup disappointment
Bayern Munich midfielder Corentin Tolisso believes Germany will look at the upcoming tie as an opportunity to make amends and beat the world champions at home.
"Of course, Germany had a bad World Cup but the players obviously have great quality and are fired up to make amends. And what could be better than playing the reigning World Champions? But we want to show we're worthy World Champions and win the game," the 24-year-old told kicker.
Low has quite a star-studded squad despite the absence of Sami Khedira and Sebastian Rudy, who have been dropped. All eyes will be on Leroy Sane as the Manchester City star returns to the side after being left out of the squad for Russian World Cup.
On the other hand, reigning world champions France will be keen on laying down an early marker with a win over Germany on the road. The Les Blues haven't lost to their neighbours since 2014 and will be hoping to continue the good run.
France will have to cope with the burden of expectations but the availability of their top stars, who were part of the World Cup-winning squad, will put them at ease.
Didier Deschamps will, however, miss captain Hugo Lloris who is out with a thigh injury. In the absence of Steve Mandanda as well, Paris Saint-Germain shot-stopper Alphonse Areola is expected to make his international debut in Munich.
Predicted starting line-ups
Germany: Neuer; Kimmich, Hummels, Sule, Schulz; Gundogan, Kroos, Goretzka; Muller, Werner, Sane
France: Areola; Pavard, Varane, Umtiti, Hernandez; Pogba, Kante; Mbappe, Griezmann, Matuidi; Giroud
Germany vs France: UEFA Nations League TV schedule
- UK: Sky Sports Football
- US: ESPN2
- Australia: Optus Sport
- Argentina: DIRECTV Sports
- Indian sub-continent: Sony Ten 2
- Denmark 6'eren
- France: TF1
- Germany: ZDF
