Switzerland and Austria kick off their EURO 2020 campaigns

EURO 2020 began on Friday night in Rome, with Italy beating Turkey 3-0. Overall, 11 Foals are at the tournament this summer. The first Borussia players will be in action on Saturday and Sunday.

Switzerland, who have Yann Sommer, Nico Elvedi, Denis Zakaria and Breel Embolo in their ranks, will face Wales in their first game on Saturday afternoon in Baku (15:00 CEST). Both sides reached the knockouts at EURO 2016, so they will be hoping to repeat the trick this time around. “I have a lot of confidence in our team,” said Borussia’s goalkeeper Yann Sommer. “When you head into a tournament, you want to achieve as much as you can.”

Three points on Saturday would be a great start to a tough group, with games to come against Italy (Wednesday, 16th June at 21:00 CEST) and Turkey (Sunday, 20th June at 18:00 CEST). “We have big aims,” explained Sommer. “However, we will take it game by game.” Switzerland’s record against Wales is positive, having won five of the seven previous meetings.

Lazaro: “We are fully focused”

Stefan Lainer and Valentino Lazaro – the latter will return to Inter Milan in the summer – will face North Macedonia with Austria on Sunday (18:00 CEST). Austria will be out for all three points against the supposedly weakest side in Group C. Their other opponents are the Netherlands (Thursday, 17th June at 21:00 CEST) and Ukraine (Monday, 21st June at 18:00 CEST).

Lazaro has no doubts about his side’s commitment. “We are fully focused on the tournament,” said the 25-year-old. Former Borussia centre-back Martin Stranzl also believes his nation will need a good start: “The first game will be decisive for them.”

Lainer and Lazaro have good memories of their opponents after playing them twice in the qualification campaign. Lainer made it 2-0 in the 2-1 win in Vienna, whilst Lazaro equalised in the 4-1 victory in Skopje.