03 December 2023 , 22:30
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Gareth Southgate admits England face another nightmare build-up for next summer’s Euros.
Three Lions stars Harry Kane, Jude Bellingham and all of Manchester City ’s contingent could miss England’s final warm-up friendlies before the tournament. Kyle Walker, John Stones, Phil Foden and Rico Lewis could all be involved if reigning European champions go all the way again.
The Champions League final is at Wembley on Saturday, June 1, which is just a fortnight before England begin their Euro 2024 campaign against Serbia in Gelsenkirchen on June 16. England have drawn up plans for a friendly at Newcastle ’s St James’s Park on Monday, June 3, and another fixture at Wembley before the tournament.
But England could be hit particularly hard because they have potentially got so many star names playing for the likes of City, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid who will be hoping to go all the way in Europe this season. It could be a major distraction for England who faced a similar issue before the 2021 Champions League final when Chelsea beat City in Porto just before the Euros began.
Southgate has already got dates in the diary with Brazil and Belgium for friendlies in March and they will be the last games before England name their 23 man squad for the Euros. But Southgate will know it is almost certain he will be missing key players when they join up for the pre-Euro friendlies and also training at St George’s Park before they jet out to Germany.
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There will also be no chance for any players who are involved in the final to get a mini-break after the Premier League season ends on May 19. Southgate said: “We had that, in the Euros, we had that, Chelsea-Man City last time around, so again we're used to dealing with that.
“You’d love to have all of the players for all of the prep camps, but that's not our reality, we've dealt with that in the past, so we know what it needs to look like. It’s important they get some sort of psychological break in between but, of course, the longer they play, the less you can give them is the reality.”
Jude Bellingham and Harry Kane are among those who could miss England's warm-up friendlies (Sebastian Frej/Getty Images)Get involved! Will England win Euro 2024? Let us know your prediction in the comments section.
England start against Serbia on June 16, play Denmark in Frankfurt on June 20 before rounding off their Group on June 25 in Cologne against Slovenia. England will play Slovenia and Serbia with prime time 8pm kick-offs for TV but their game with Denmark is on a Thursday and has a 5pm which is certain to mean an early finish for fans back at home.
This tournament is unusual because the draw was done with a clear fixture list with dates and venues also part of the ceremony. It was done because UEFA have been lauding this as an eco-friendly tournament with games split into three zones. England will be red-hot favourites to win their group and if they do that then they know they will face one of the four best third-placed finishers who do get a pass into the last 16.
Group C fixtures
Sunday, June 16: Slovenia vs Denmark (Stuttgart) - 5pm, Serbia vs England (Gelsenkirchen) - 8pm
Thursday, June 20: Slovenia vs Serbia (Munich) - 2pm, Denmark vs England (Frankfurt) - 5pm
Tuesday, June 25: England vs Slovenia (Cologne) - 8pm, Denmark vs Serbia (Munich) - 8pm