Germany's pursuit of Euro success boosted by manageable group

Duplicating Spain's feat of following up a World Cup triumph with European glory is an objective that continues to be a real possibility after Germany's group-stage opponents were revealed Saturday in Paris.

Already considered one of the favourites to match its World Cup total and lift its fourth European Championship trophy with a successful tournament in France next summer, Die Mannschaft finds itself in a manageable group consisting of beatable, yet tricky, teams such as Poland, Ukraine, and Northern Ireland.

Its collection of world-class talent is a feature few countries can come close to matching, as the likes of Manuel Neuer, Thomas Muller, Marco Reus, Mesut Ozil, Mario Gotze, Mats Hummels, and a plethora of other supremely skilled players will once again form a squad capable of overwhelming and humiliating any opponent during their quest for European success.

The country's most difficult opponent is a familiar foe, as Germany and Poland get set to renew a heated rivalry that produced two gripping matches during the qualification portion of the competition.

With just a point to separate the two nations through 10 qualifying contests, Poland more than proved itself to be a worthy competitor in a group that initially appeared to be a nice tune-up for the World Cup champions to stretch their legs before the first qualifying match was even played in 2014.

Instead, the Germans stumbled out of the block with unconvincing results, including a shock 2-0 away loss to a Polish side oozing with confidence.

Joachim Low's men eventually found their rhythm and proceeded to dismantle opponents - with Germany's 3-1 win over Poland helping to exact revenge - en route to topping the group.

The loss to Poland may prove to be a vital lesson in the team's maturity process following the endless hype surrounding the nation since its superb display at the World Cup in Brazil.

For countries such as Ukraine and Northern Ireland, however, the prospect of progressing past the group stage will depend on either one's ability to put together positive results against Poland, and hope qualification is realised with a third-place finish.

A scenario where the Germans finish behind any nation next June is impossible to picture considering Low's men have the look of a nation ready to lift silverware once again and dominate the international stage for years to come.