Four former champions with a point to prove at Euro 2020

THERE are just six days to go until the start of the European football championships, otherwise known as Euro 2020. The 24 competing nations are all raring and ready to go as they prepare to embark on their quest to be crowned the best in the continent.

Fifty-one matches will be played in total over 30 days, with some of the world's most recognisable players taking to the field with their respective countries. BT Weekend takes a closer look at four former winners of the competition and their chances of lifting the coveted Henri Delaunay trophy.

Germany

It is the final tournament for Germany's long-serving national coach Joachim Loew, and how the 61-year-old - who has been at the helm since 2006 - would love to bring home the Henri Delaunay trophy as his farewell gift to his countrymen.

The four-time world champions suffered a humiliating first-round exit at the World Cup in 2018, when they failed to win any of their three group games and finished rock-bottom in their table.

It will be far from an easy ride at Euro 2020 for the Germans, as they are placed in Group F - dubbed the Group of Death - together with world champions France, the Euro 2016 winners Portugal, and an unpredictable Hungary.

Germany have the added advantage of playing all their Euro 2020 group games on home turf, starting with the blockbuster clash with France in Munich on June 15. But the pessimist out there might say that home advantage counts for little, however, after the Germans somehow lost to minnows North Macedonia in March in a World Cup 2022 qualifier in Duisburg.

Loew is determined not to make the same mistakes in his swansong tournament. He will be counting on the likes of Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller, Mats Hummels and Kai Havertz - all proven match-winners - to lead the team to glory.

Italy

It has been five years since Italy last featured in a major international tournament, after the Azzurri failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup.

Their absence from the sport's biggest party for the first time since 1958 was nothing short of scandalous, in the eyes of their supporters and many neutrals out there.

Roberto Mancini's men have long stopped feeling sorry for themselves, and Euro 2020 will be their chance to show that they are back for good.

They have tasted victory in 21 games out of 30 under his charge, and were perfect in their qualifying campaign for Euro 2020 by winning all ten matches. Unbeaten in their last 25 outings, the Italians are hitting top form at just the right moment.

Mancini has selected many experienced stars such as his 36-year-old captain Giorgio Chiellini in his squad, but he has also opened the door to several young players who are the future of Italian football.

There is 22-year-old goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma, a world-class shot-stopper who has already played over 200 times for AC Milan, and 23-year-olds Federico Chiesa and Manuel Locatelli, who have not played often at the highest level of international football but have performed admirably for their respective clubs Juventus and Sassuolo.

Italy is among six countries that will get to play all their group games at home, and that makes them the clear favourites to progress to the Round of 16 in a section containing Switzerland, Turkey and Wales.

Spain

The Spaniards have plenty to prove, having flopped at their last three major tournaments - they fell at the Round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2016, and crashed out in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup.

That said, coach Luis Enrique's team are in a transition phase, and it will be interesting to see how the veterans - some of whom went through the golden period when Spain won three consecutive tournaments from 2008 to 2012 - support and guide their younger counterparts.

Interestingly, Enrique has not picked a single player from Real Madrid, once the happiest of hunting grounds for the national coach. Instead, he has given ten spots in his 24-man squad to players from the English Premier League, including Brighton goalkeeper Robert Sanchez, Wolves forward Adama Traore and Leeds defender Diego Llorente.

Spain will be buoyed by having home advantage throughout the group stage and should have few problems getting past Sweden, Poland and Slovakia to comfortably qualify for the knockout phase. That will be when the true test awaits.

The Netherlands

Holland failed to qualify for both Euro 2016 and the 2018 World Cup, so it is safe to say that their fans are chomping at the bit for their team to return to a big football tournament.

The last time the Dutch missed consecutive tournaments, they won the next one at Euro 1988. Of course, things are quite different now. The current squad does not have a world-class superstar in the form of Marco van Basten, and coach Frank de Boer - who took charge last September - must also cope with the loss of influential defender Virgil van Dijk.

The Netherlands are, however, expected to have a relatively fuss-free time in the group stage, with home advantage against Austria, Ukraine and North Macedonia.

Whether they can go on and win the trophy or not is debatable, given their injury problems and their manager's inexperience at the top level. They would do well to reach the quarterfinals, and going beyond that will be seen as a bonus for this young and exciting team.

• In this column next Saturday, we put the spotlight on the five players to watch out for at Euro 2020.