Maria Leon looks to fashion something from near halfway, but her angled ball into the box for Lucia Garcia skips well ahead of the forward and out of play.

Lucy Ward
Former Leeds striker on BBC Two

That is so unlike Sandra Panos for Spain. It was a mistake.

Kiara Buhl still had to finish it, she still had to put it away. She still had work to do.

What a start from Germany, they have taken their chance.

The German pressing is a little too fierce.

Lina Magull flies into a tackle and floors a Spain defender as she tries to clear. Poor execution but the intent is clear to see from the eight-time Euro champions.

Image source, Getty Images

Germany have the nous and experience of winning games at this level.

Gifting them a lead like that is potentially fatal.

Spain need to wipe the slate, compose themselves and go again.

Such a massive game. And such a huge mistake.

Natasha Dowie
Reading and England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Getty Images

Germany's pressing game is so important and to stop Spain you have to press them so high.

It is a mistake, you have to be honest. But credit to the player, it's the composure, that's a calm finish into the corner.

Great start for Germany.

The corner is flicked on at the near post but away from other players in red. Germany are able to run it away.

Good atmosphere in this tight, little ground,

Spain quickly win a free-kick in German territory as they look to hit fast and hard. It leads to the game's first corner.

Image source, Getty Images

It's a big game, between big teams which will have big repercussions on the Euros future of both... and England.

It is under way at a lively Community Stadium.

Fara Williams
Former England midfielder on BBC Two

Both sets of teams are going to put on a show today.

There’s different styles of play and it’s going to be tactical.

Image source, Getty Images

• Germany have only lost one of their 19 group stage games at the UEFA Women’s Euros (W14 D4), scoring 43 goals and only conceding five in return. Their 4-0 victory over Denmark last time out was their joint-biggest victory in their opening group stage game in an edition of the tournament, along with a 4-0 win over Norway in 2009.
• Spain will be looking to record consecutive victories at the UEFA Women’s Euros for the very first time, following their 4-1 win over Finland on MD1. Their four goals in that match is already twice as many as they scored in the previous edition of the tournament in 2017 (two in four games).
• Germany will be aiming to win their opening two group stage games at the UEFA Women’s Euros for the first time since 2009 (v Norway and France), an edition which they went on to win with a 100% record (six wins from six games).
• Spain and Germany both scored four times in their opening games of the 2022 UEFA Women’s Euros, while also posting a similar expected goals tally (3.6 for Spain, 3.3 for Germany).
• Germany’s 4-0 win over Denmark last time out also saw them hit the woodwork on three occasions. Since 2013 (when Opta have this data available), they’ve only ever struck the woodwork more times in a match at the UEFA Women’s Euros, doing so four times against Norway in 2013.

Natasha Dowie
Reading and England striker on BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Getty Images

Both teams look up for it in the warm up. It's going to be a really fiery game.

Here come the teams. Brentford gives them a rousing welcome.

Image source, Getty Images

This is the second meeting between Germany and Spain in 2022, with the first match ending 1-1 in February with Lea Schuller cancelling out Alexia Putellas’ goal for Spain.

That match was also played in England, at Middlesbrough’s Riverside Stadium in the Arnold Clark Cup.

Neither of the scorers will be playing tonight, because of Covid and injury respectively.

Although this is the first match between Germany and Spain at the Women’s Euros, they have met at a major tournament previously, with the Germans winning 1-0 in the group stages at the 2019 World Cup.

Frank Hellmann
German football writer

Rarely has it been so difficult to assess Germany's chances going into a European Women's Championship.

They may be eight-time European champions. They may have won six of the past seven tournaments. But as Euro 2022 hits its stride, the days when Germany won the trophy as a matter of course are over.

Oliver Bierhoff, the German men's and women's national team director, knows it.

"The competition has become bigger," Bierhoff said. "We no longer have the dominance we had 15 years ago in the women's game."

Nevertheless, Bierhoff expects Germany to make the semi-finals. At least.

Germany are good - but are they prepared? They warmed up with just one friendly, a 7-0 win over Switzerland, and even though the players are comfortable with a 4-3-3 system, the team has not been as settled as coach Martina Voss-Tecklenburg would like.

"We may no longer be among the top favourites," said Voss-Tecklenburg.

There is experience and leadership in the squad, but not all of it will be on the pitch. For instance, goalkeeper Almuth Schult, who has 64 caps and recently joined Los Angeles-based Angel City, hasn't played an international match for three years. Schult had shoulder surgery, then took a break to have a baby. Various aches and pains, plus a brush with Covid, have delayed her return.

Read more here.

Germany have no such issues with past Euros success. They've won this event a record eight times, including six of the last seven.

However...

Spain are, as we all know, without star midfielder Alexia Putellas, with the 28-year-old Ballon d'Or holder not expected to play again in 2022 after rupturing her anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee just before the Euros.

A blow for sure, but Spain are far more than just the Barcelona player. They are the "best football team in the world" according to Scotland women's boss Pedro Martinez Losa, who hails from Madrid and saw his side lose 8-0 to his native country in November (seriously, what it is with the 8-0s?!).

Unbeaten in two years and with a squad packed full of Champions League winners, Spain have reason to hope this summer is the culmination of a rapid rise and the beginning of a spell of dominance.

Their Euros record to date, though, is not a huge amount to write home about...

Image source, BBC Sport

The first six World Cups came and went without Spain appearing and when they did qualify, in 2015 in Canada, they returned without a win.

In France in 2019, Spain recorded their first - and so far only - World Cup victory by beating South Africa, before losing a tough last-16 match-up with the United States 2-1.

Since that World Cup exit, Spain have only lost once in a competitive match - again against the United States.

"When Germany and Spain come together, two giants meet." Those are the words of Germany left-back Felicitas Rauch.

"We know about Spain's qualities, especially in possession, but we have to be just as good at assessing our strengths," she continues.

"We know that we too have incredible individual quality.

"We really have 23 top, top players in our squad, we have an incredible trust in this team and we can make life very difficult for Spain."