Spain v Germany: Euro 2024 quarter-final – live | Euro 2024

45+2 min: Cucerella fouls Gundogan from behind and the German goes to ground as if he’s been picked off by a sniper nesting on the roof of the stand. Germany have another free-kick but nothing comes of it. It’s half-time.

45 min: Spain are in the ascendancy at the moment, without mustering much in the way of a goal threat. As things stand, Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer has had a much easier evening than his opposite number, Unai Simon.

43 min: Cutting in from the left, Nico Williams eschews the option of taking on and beating Rudiger again, electing instead to wildly overhit a cross from the left and put the ball out for a Germany throw-in on the far side.

40 min: Replays suggest that Robin Le Normand was very unjustly booked for that foul on Gundogan a while back. The German captain appeared to throw himself to the ground but perhaps mindful of the fact that the Spain centre-back had just entered his bad books a few seconds previously, Anthony Taylor couldn’t get the yellow card out quickly enough. Harsh.

38 min: Williams takes on Sane down the left jinking, this way, that way and then this way again as he surveys his options in the German penalty area. There aren’t any, prompting him to wave his hands in the air in frustration.

36 min: Olmo plays Williams in behind with an excellent pass inside Kimmich. The winger bears down on the German goal, skipping past Rudiger in the process, then forces a save out of Neuer at his near post. Like Kimmich before him, he’s also flagged for offside. I’m not so sure he was but it doesn’t matter.

35 min: Havertz takes down a low diagonal and fires straight at Simon.

34 min: Kimmich is played in behind Williams by Havertz and drills a low cross across the Spain penalty area. Simon cuts it out before it can reach Leroy Sane. Kimmich had strayed offside and the flag goes up.

33 min: As yet, this match has failed to live up to the hype but it’s absorbing enough. A goal for either side before the break would liven proceedings up no end.

31 min: Emre Can is penalised for fouling Lamine Yamal and is lucky to avoid the yellow card Alvaro Morata unsuccessfully lobbied Anthony Taylor to brandish in his direction.

30 min: Now he needs to be extra careful, having just been booked for a clumsy and completely needless challenge on Ilkay Gundogan in the centre-circle. He’ll miss the next game if Spain go through and he might miss a sizeable chunk of this one too if he doesn’t get his disciplinary act together.

26 min: Germany corner. Before it can be taken, Robin Le Normand gets a ticking-off from the referee for persietently manhandling Antonio Rudiger. He continues to manhandle him anyway as the ball comes in, which seems a remarkably stupid thing to do but he gets away with it on this occasion. He needs to be careful, does Robin. Nothing much comes of the set-piece.

24 min: Kimmich is fouled out by the right touchline and gets a free-kick. Kroos squares the dead ball across the edge of the six-yard box, where Jonathan Tah is unable to get any power on his header. He steers the ball goalwards but it drops harmlessly at the feet of Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon.

22 min: Cucerella helps the ball on to Williams out on left touchline. He plays inside to Laporte, who sees space opening up in front of him. He tries a shot from about 25 yards out but doesn’t trouble Neuer.

21 min: Now Gundogan plays the ball wide to Kimmich, who sends a cross towards Havertz. There’s not much power on his header and Neuer saves easily.

20 min: Joshua Kimmich sends an early ball from deep to the edge of the Spain penalty area trying to pick out Ilkay Gundogan. It’s cut out by a defender.

19 min: Fabian Ruiz sends a shot whistling narrowly wide of the top corner after more good work by Yamal down the right flank.

15 min: Lamine Yamal takes the free-kick and sends a fairly low shot narrowly wide of the right post. One wonders, had he been born in Portugal and was playing in the same national team as Cristiano Ronaldo, if the 16-year-old would be allowed to take free-kicks in such good positions.

14 min: Antonio Rudiger gets caught out of position and ends up fouling Dani Olmo just to the left of the D in a very dangerous area. He gets booked and will miss the semi-final should Germany reach it.

12 min: With other options open to him, Nico Williams tries a low shot from distance. It’s not a very good one and the ball goes well wide of the left upright. The Spain winger immediately waves apologetically at various teammates.

10 min: With Germany on the attack, Kai Havertz plays the ball left and wide to David Raum, whose first-time cross into the Spain penalty area is poor. He sends the ball straight into the arms of a grateful Unai Simon.

9 min: Laporte sends a wonderful low pass fizzing up the touchline to the feet of Nico Williams, who is immediately dispossessed by Emre Can.

7 min: A distraught Pedri is forced off the pitch with an injury; one he sustained in that challenge with Kroos. Dani Olmo comes on his place.

6 min: Of course if Germany lose tonight, this will be Toni’s final game as a professional footballer. He’s said he’ll be hanging up his boots as soon as his country’s interest in Euro 2024 ends. There’s a break in play as Pedri continues to receive treatment.

4 min: Toni Kroos mistimes a tackle on Pedri and sends the Spain midfielder cartwheeling through the air. Referee Anthony Taylor is immediately surrounded by complaining players from both sides and shoos them all away. Kroos got a touch on the ball and it’s almost certainly that which spares him a booking.

3 min: Spain are dominating possession in these very early stages but give away possession cheaply by needlessly conceding a throw-in near ther halfway line.

1 min: With his back to goal, Alvaro Morata controls a ball inside from the left and lays it off to Pedri, who shoots with his left foot from just outside the penalty area. His feeble effort is straight at Manuel Neuer.

Spain v Germany is go

Not long now: Anthony Taylor and his team of match officials lead both sets of players out on to the pitch for what could be a truly seismic football match. Kick-off is just a couple of anthems, some handshakes, a coin-toss and a shrill blast of the English referee’s away.

Big Interview: As a Spanish international with a German wife who has never played club football in his home country and plies his trade with RB Leipzig, Dani Olmo is as well placed as anybody to talk about today’s big game. Sid Lowe sat down with the midfielder for a chat in Donaueschingen …

Those teams: A late call-up for Aleksander Pavlovic, who had to drop out of Germany’s squad with tonsilitis on the eve of the tournament, Emre Can makes his first start of the tournament for Germany, with pink-haired Barbie boy Robert Andrich making way.

Jonathan Tah returns to the Germany side after serving a suspension and Nico Schlotterbeck drops to the bench. Spain manager Luis de la Fuente sends out the same 11 men who started against Georgia.

Spain v Germany line-ups

Today’s match officials

Spain: Ilkay Gündogan believes Germany can look forward to their quarter-final against Spain “with a smile” having already changed the mood in the country and fulfilled their objectives at Euro 2024, writes Sid Lowe.

Early team news

With his squad untroubled by suspensions or injuries, Spain boss Luis de la Fuente is expected to field an unchanged side to the one that came from behind to beat Georgia last time out, although it would be no great shock to see Dani Olmo Mikel Merino come into midfield in place of Pedri.

Germany manager Julian Nagelsmann has something of a dilemma now that Jonathan Tah is back from suspension. He’ll have to decide whether or to reinstate his first choice central defender at the expense of Nico Schlotterbeck, who was excellent in the Bayer Leverkusen man’s absence. Florian Wirtz was also benched for the win over Denmark and could return this evening at the expense of Leroy Sane.

Euro 2024 quarter-final: Spain v Germany