Bad news for coach Antonio di Salvo: Germany's U21 national team must cope with several absences as the year comes to a close.

In addition to Lukas Ullrich (collarbone fracture), Mika Baur (ankle) and Arijon Ibrahimovic are unavailable for the test matches against Belgium and Croatia.

Di Salvo responded with three replacement call-ups: Maurice Krattenmacher from SV Elversberg and Kofi Jeremy Amoako from Hamburg SV could make their U21 debuts. Tom Rothe from Union Berlin, however, already brings international experience with him.

The deployment of former Bremen defender Karim Coulibaly is also uncertain, as he is suffering from illness symptoms. A decision on his arrival is expected on Tuesday.

Despite the test match nature of the fixtures, di Salvo attaches great importance to both encounters. The coach emphasized that these are two important matches, even though they are friendly games.

Two strong opponents await, who have also qualified for the European Championship. Di Salvo announced they want to see where they stand compared to the competition.

On Friday (6:00 PM CET/ProSieben Maxx), Germany faces Belgium in Essen, with the match against Croatia in Rijeka following four days later.

Tight competition for several positions

Di Salvo wants to continue developing his squad. While the qualification with 27 points from ten matches was successful, there is still room for improvement, according to the team manager. The squad is a team in development and must improve and get better.

Competition in goal continues as well. Dennis Seimen and Mio Backhaus each get the opportunity in one match to recommend themselves for the number one role. Both have promoted themselves in the Bundesliga.

The U21 European Championship 2027 takes place from June 16 to July 3 in Albania and Serbia. The tournament also serves as qualification for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. The group draw takes place on November 26 in Belgrade.