The German machine showed itself to be functioning perfectly as die Mannschaft brushed aside Ukraine in their opening game. You can follow their clash against Poland with DAN RIPLEY.

MATT BARLOW AT THE STADE DE FRANCE: This time, Joachim Low was left scratching his head as opposed to another part of his anatomy as Poland made his world champions appear mortal..

Tightly marked by past and present club teammates who know him well, Poland striker Robert Lewandowski endured another frustrating match inside the Stade de France on Thursday.

Szczesny suffered the injury in the first half of his side's victory over Northern Ireland following a collision with teammate Lukasz Piszczek, but managed to complete the 90 minutes.

The Arsenal stopper damaged his thigh in Poland's opening group game against Northern Ireland. Swansea keeper Lukasz Fabianski will continue to deputise in his compatriot's absence.

Sportsmail's Martin Keown offers his assessment of Tuesday's two early games at Euro 2016 as Northern Ireland look to secure progress to the last 16 and Poland try to beat Germany to top spot.

Poland will hope Robert Lewandowski can fire them to an automatic top-two qualification spot for Euro 2016 when they face Ukraine on Tuesday afternoon.

Poland reached the knockout stages of the European Championship for the first time in their history following a 1-0 victory over neighbours Ukraine in the Stade Velodrome, Marseille.

The contrast in difficulty is summed up by the fact that the bottom half has nations with a total of 20 major titles (11 World Cups and nine Euros), while there is a total of none in the top half.

On a crazy final day of the Euro 2016 group stage in France, teams from the British & Irish isles were left waiting until the very last moments to find out their last-16 fate in the tournament.

One of Belgium, Croatia, Hungary, Northern Ireland, Poland, Portugal, Switzerland and Wales are guaranteed a place in the final - none of whom have a major international honour to their name.

SECRET SCOUT: Sportsmail’s football expert has been busy scrutinising the Euros for prospective Premier League bargains this summer. 

Polish coach Adam Nawalka doesn't want striker Robert Lewandowski compared to Cristiano Ronaldo as the striker faces Switzerland on Saturday having failed to score at Euro 2016.

The underwhelming group-stages are over and Euro 2016's knockout round is underway. Here, Sportsmail columnist MARTIN KEOWN gives his verdict on Saturday's last-16 games.

Switzerland and Poland have both reached the knock-out stage of the European Championship for the first time after finishing runners-up in their respective groups.

Poland are through to the quarter-finals of a European Championship for the first time in their history after defeating Switzerland 5-4 on penalties in Saint Etienne following a 1-1 draw.

CHRIS HATHERALL IN SAINT-ETIENNE: Poland are through to the quarter-finals of a European Championship for the first time in their history after winning on penalties against Switzerland.

Fernando Santos took his Portugal side's practice session at the Centre National de Rugby in Marcoussis on Monday. The training base was a happy one after their last-16 win over Croatia.

After 17 days and 44 matches, Euro 2016 has now reached crunch time with eight teams left to battle it out for glory in France as the tournament reaches the finishing straight.

Despite Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo so far failing to produce a string of consistent displays, Portugal have recovered from a slow start to earn a place in the quarter-finals.

With seven games of the tournament remaining, kicking off with Poland's quarter-final clash against Portugal on Thursday night, three players sit top of the standings with three goals each.

The Bayern Munich forward is the most fouled player at Euro 2016 and Nawalka thinks his star striker has been marked too tightly in France.

Arkadiusz Milik is looking forward to playing against one of his footballing heroes, Cristiano Ronaldo, when Poland face Portugal in the European Championship quarter-finals in Marseille.

The Bayern Munich striker has become the forgotten man at Euro 2016, overshadowed as each of the other star attractions have stolen the headlines.

The Portugal squad travelled to Marseille the day before the contest, with a number of the squad's senior players posing for a photograph while en route to the southern French city.

Lewandowski hasn't lit up Euro 2016 and will need to regain his form from qualifying if Poland are to have any chance of getting past Portugal on Thursday.

Cristiano Ronaldo will not be the only superstar on show on Thursday night in Marseille. But Poland's manager, players and supporters are relying on Robert Lewandowski finding his shooting boots.

Portugal will need Cristiano Ronaldo firing on all cylinders on Thursday night if they are to overcome a stubborn Polish side in Marseille.

Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal are through to the semi-finals of Euro 2016 despite failing to win a game in normal time in the tournament so far.

So it was ITV who were first out of the blocks for the quarter finals. Which meant that they didn’t get the Welsh game.

Renato Sanches insists any criticism of Portugal has no effect on the players as they reached the semi-finals of Euro 2016 after a penalty shoot-out victory over Poland.

IAN LADYMAN AT STADE VELODROME: Cristiano Ronaldo has been here before and made the wrong call. Portugal exited Euro 2012 on penalties to Spain without their great talisman taking a kick.

Portugal have become the first team in modern European Championship finals history to reach the semi-finals of without winning a single game in normal time, having beaten Poland.

Poland’s star player Robert Lewandowski was recovering on Friday from a ‘brutal’ end to his side’s run at Euro 2016. The striker's goal was not enough to see his side overcome Portugal.

French side AS Monaco have signed Polish defender Kamil Glik on a four-year deal from Italian side Torino, the clubs confirmed on Monday.

Everton and Napoli target Arkadiusz Milik will not be allowed to leave in this window, say his club Ajax. The Polish star is understood have agreed to stay at least until January.

Sportsmail revealed Leicester's bid at the weekend and the Premier League champions have now settled on a fee with Cracovia for an initial £5.4million, rising to £7.4m based on performance.

A hat-trick from Robert Lewandowski lifted Poland to a 3-2 victory over Denmark in a thrilling World Cup Group E qualifier in Warsaw on Saturday.

Poland's World Cup qualifier with Romania had to be suspended when a firecracker exploded at the feet of striker Robert Lewandowski. The Bayern Munich man needed medical attention.

Bucharest police have questioned 17 football fans after clashes at the World Cup qualifier between Romania and Poland on Friday.

The Bayern striker, who scored twice in his country's 3-0 World Cup qualifier win over Romania on Friday, will not be in the squad for the friendly against Slovenia after returning to Germany.

Robert Lewandowski is widely regarded as one of Europe's top marksmen, but the Bayern Munich striker has shown he is more than just a lethal goalscorer with his juggling skills in training.

DOMINIC KING IN MUNICH: What if? Robert Lewandowski has no cause for regret in his stunning career but, from time to time, he asks himself that question and starts to wonder.

Top scorer Fernando Llorente has boosted Swansea by being declared fit to face Bournemouth as Paul Clement insists there is no need to panic after the setback against Hull.

OLIVER TODD: Lech Poznan forward Dawid Kownacki has helped fire his club to a title challenge in Poland this season, attracting the attention of some of Europe's biggest sides.

Lewandowski's wife, Anna, gave birth to their daughter on Thursday morning and the proud father wasted no time in posting a picture of himself kissing his child on the head.

England booked their place in the semi-finals of the Under 21 European Championship by beating Poland in their last Group A game. Relive the action as it happened here with Tom Farmery.

Goals from Eric Dier and Marcus Rashford saw England come from behind to defeat Slovakia 2-1 to take a giant step towards qualifying for the World Cup next summer.

Poland and Uruguay played out a goalless stalemate in Warsaw which saw Artur Boruc receive a standing ovation just before half time, as the 37-year-old retired from international football.

The 32 teams contesting next summer's World Cup in Russia have now been decided with Peru becoming the final team to earn a place after their victory over New Zealand on Wednesday night.