Germany's Euro 2024 camp has reportedly employed security staff to play loud music whenever passers-by go near their training ground. Manager Julian Nagelsmann is evidently keen to remove any advantage Spain may get their hands on ahead of their hotly-anticipated quarter-final battle.
Friday's meeting in Stuttgart will pit arguably the two strongest sides at the tournament against one another. Germany are unbeaten across their four games, while Spain are the only team remaining with a flawless record.
Nagelsmann and his staff cannot risk their upcoming opponents catching wind of Germany's tactics. And they have taken unusual, drastic action to make sure that doesn't happen.
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According to German news outlet Bild, anyone walking on the roads near the national team's training complex in Herzogenaurach will be 'immediately followed' by security staff.
And in a 'crazy' twist, those staff members reportedly play loud music on their phones to drown out any instructions from Nagelsmann on the training pitch, or calls from one player to another. The title song of children's TV series 'Benjamin Blumchen', and 1980s tune 'Cheri Cheri Lady' by Modern Talking are both played on repeat.
Over the course of the Euros, Nagelsmann has banned media personnel, either from Germany or the nations of their opponents, from watching training sessions within two days of the next match.
Germany's national team tend to stress the importance of isolation at major tournaments. Their Adidas training site is surrounded by high fences, guarded by security and patrolled by horse-mounted police.
Die Mannschaft could be pushed to their limit by Spain as they hunt down a spot in the semi-finals. Germany scraped past Denmark in the last 16, benefitting from a dubious penalty call and a marginal offside in their 2-0 win.
They were also pegged back in their final group game by Switzerland, who managed an impressive 1-1 draw.
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Spain, meanwhile, are full of confidence after collecting nine points from a possible nine in Group B and hammering Georgia 4-1 in the last 16. A win for La Roja would send Germany's Toni Kroos into retirement, and former Real Madrid striker Joselu is in no mood to play nice.
"It was an honour to have played with Toni," he said. "He embodies all of Real's values and was an excellent team-mate. I got a lot of advice from him. We hope to send him into retirement on Friday. We must not worry about players from other national teams. As much as I love Toni, Friday's game will be his last."
