Breaking Down How Germany Can Rain on France's Parade in Euro 2016 Semi-Final

The second semi-final of Euro 2016 in Marseille's Stade Velodrome on Thursday evening pitches the two pre-tournament favourites against each other. Host nation France meet world champions Germany in what some will consider the real final of the Euros—with all due respect to Portugal and Wales.

Going by the performances of the two sides in the tournament so far, the World Cup holders would have to be considered favourites to make it to the final. Ever-improving until the quarter-final, Germany finally got over the hump and made it past bogey team Italy in a competitive match for the first time.

France had a far more comfortable time in the quarter-finals, beating Iceland 5-2, but they had struggled quite a bit up to that point, be it in a group that contained Albania, Romania and Switzerland or in the round of 16 against the Republic of Ireland.

France head coach Didier Deschamps has already declared—in a roundabout way—his side underdogs for Thursday's match in his post-game interviews after the Iceland match, per Ligue1.com. 

He said: "Germany have been the best team, without doubt, even if they had a bit of a hard time on occasion against Italy, who took them all the way. But we are there, in the final four, and we will give our all against the best team not only in Europe, but the world."

Germany may have been the best team of the Euros so far, but head coach Joachim Low will not be able to put his best team on the pitch in Marseille. In Mats Hummels, who's out with a suspension, and the injured Sami Khedira and Mario Gomez, three key starters will miss the match against the hosts.

Bastian Schweinsteiger did participate in team training on Wednesday, but he remains a major doubt after Low had ruled out playing someone "of whom I am not convinced that he can go 90 or 120 minutes," per Stephan Uersfeld of ESPN FC.

Should the captain not be able to start against France, Germany's depth would get tested for the first time in the tournament.

Low would likely choose between 21-year-old Emre Can and 20-year-old Julian Weigl—neither of whom have seen the pitch in France so far—in the important role next to Toni Kroos in central midfield.

However, despite their important absences, the 56-year-old is not ready to call France favourites for the match, per Uersfeld:

"

It would be easy to push them into that position. You could say that we have many injured players, France have the home advantage and therefore they are favourites, but that just doesn't count during the 90 minutes. 

It will be a match at 'eye level.' I relish those games. I love knockout matches against such teams.

"

Low has every right to remain optimistic. After their dramatic win in a crazy shootout over bogey team Italy, there has to be a sense that the stars are aligning for the World Cup holders this summer.

France have proved to be vulnerable against every team they've faced and, even without Gomez, whose renaissance with the national team manifested itself in strong performances since his inclusion in the starting XI against Northern Ireland, Germany bring enough attacking power to punish Les Bleus.

Even though Deschamps can go back to his first-choice back line thanks to the return of Adil Rami—and it's not much of a first-choice back line considering the Sevilla man wasn't even a part of the preliminary squad before injuries hit France hard—Germany can feel good about their chances of scoring.

MARTIN BUREAU/Getty Images

A fluent attack with Mesut Ozil, Thomas Muller and Julian Draxler seems most likely for the world champions, and it would be the biggest test so far for France's ageing full-backs Bacary Sagna and Patrice Evra and the stiff Rami, who's allowed countless runs in channels behind him that a playmaker of Ozil's calibre will exploit with accurate through balls.

Even Laurent Koscielny, one of the best centre-backs of the Euros, could struggle against Germany's shifty attacking players. Draxler's strong dribble in one-on-ones would give him fits, for example.

Of course, for all their defensive frailties that opponents haven't really punished to this point, France also bring a dangerous strike force. Antoine Griezmann leads the goalscoring charts, having found the net four times, while both Olivier Giroud and Dimitri Payet have added three.

While Griezmann is the most fearsome of the three due to his combination of speed and a remarkable coolness in front of goal, Payet could be the man to wreck Germany's hopes of becoming only the third team to hold both the World Cup and the Coupe Henri-Delaunay at the same time.

The West Ham United star has arguably been the biggest revelation of the Euros and is not only capable of scoring from the craziest positions on the field, he is also France's most creative passer in the attacking ranks.

Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images

As Michael Cox wrote about the 29-year-old for ESPN FC, "drifting inside from the left of France's forward trio, he would probably find pockets of space" in behind Schweinsteiger or whoever gets the start in Germany's midfield. "If Payet can find space between the lines, Giroud and Griezmann will be confident of receiving through balls to run on to."

Without a natural holding midfielder who could take care of Payet, Low should consider sticking to his approach with three at the back that worked well against Italy. It would give Germany numbers in defence, with Shkodran Mustafi presumably replacing Hummels at left centre-back.

The Valencia defender's quickness would make him a good fit for defending Griezmann, while Benedikt Howedes and Jerome Boateng could take turns engaging the physical Giroud.

Assuming Schweinsteiger can't play, Weigl seems like the best option in midfield ahead of the three-man back line. While lacking some physicality which could be a problem against Paul Pogba, the Borussia Dortmund man's intelligence allows him to sniff out passing lanes which could be the key in this match.

At any rate, it should be a good contest between two sides that have rounded into form over the last few weeks and have by and large confirmed their status as pre-tournament favourites.

Unlike in the previous round, history is on Germany's side.

Although it's considered a heavyweight clash of European and even world football, the two teams have rarely met in significant games over the years.

Two years ago, an early Hummels goal from a free-kick settled a drab affair in the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The most memorable match came in 1982 when goalkeeper Harald "Toni" Schumacher famously kicked Patrick Battiston into unconsciousness and escaped without receiving a personal punishment or France getting a free-kick.

There's every expectation that Thursday's match will go into memory for the right reasons. For Germany, that would mean the continuation of a remarkable streak, per Uersfeld: "Ever since the 1966 World Cup final, the Nationalmannschaft have beaten the hosts on nine consecutive occasions."

Making it 10 in a row will not be easy, especially considering they're undermanned, but Germany have what it takes to rain on France's parade in Marseille.

Lars Pollmann is a Featured Columnist who also writes for YellowWallPod.com. You can follow him on Twitter.