Euro U21s Review: Jovic's Serbia lose, Germany start title defence with win

Germany opened their European Under-21 Championship title defence with a 3-1 defeat of Denmark, while Luka Jovic's Serbia lost 2-0 to Austria. Marco Richter scored twice as Germany brushed Denmark aside in their Group B game in Udine on Monday.

The Augsburg attacker opened the scoring with a deflected drive and he doubled Germany's lead by taking advantage of some sloppy Denmark defending. Luca Waldschmidt raced through on goal to score Germany's third with a clever chip, but Denmark at least got on the board with a consolation scored from the penalty spot by Robert Skov.

Jovic is expected to be among the stars of the competition after his move to Real Madrid, but his Serbia side went down to tournament debutants Austria, although the former Eintracht Frankfurt striker hit the crossbar with a second-half header. 

June 17, 2019

Hannes Wolf tapped home to open Austria's account in the 37th minute and Serbia's hopes of fighting back were damaged when Vukasin Jovanovic was sent off after a VAR check following a challenge that left Wolf with a suspected broken leg. Jovanovic's dismissal allowed Austria to take control against the 10 men and they made the most of their advantage with Sascha Horvath scoring a free-kick to secure all three points.

Serbia will look to get their campaign up and running with a better result when they face Germany in their next game on Thursday, with Denmark meeting Austria on the same day. But Wolf will be absent after Austria coach Werner Gregoritsch confirmed he faces a long spell on the sidelines.

"It's going to be a very serious injury," he said after the game. "It's terrible if one of the most exciting players in Austria, the summer after joining RB Leipzig, will probably be out for half a year."