Mats Hummels likes Germany’s defensive group ahead of European Championships

Former Bayern Munich defender Mats Hummels likes what he sees from the German national team’s defensive corps.

Specifically, Hummels thinks Chelsea defender Antonio Rüdiger has progressed immensely.

“Toni has shown individually that he is an absolutely outstanding player. Whenever I’ve seen his games, I can almost speak of world class. But we have a lot of good players in the position,” said Hummels as captured by Twitter account @iMiaSanMia.

Hummels, Rüdiger, Niklas Süle, Lukas Klostermann, Marcel Halstenberg, Matthias Ginter, Robin Gosens, Christian Günter, Robin Koch, and — potentially — Joshua Kimmich, will be the unit tasked with trying to slow down high-powered squads like France at the European Championships.

“They have sensational attack and defense,” said Hummels. “We’ll figure out how to play against them before the game. With Benzema they have even more quality. You can’t keep them under control on your own, it’s only possible as a team.”

Should that defense end up needing to rely on its goalkeeper, however, Hummels has full confidence in Germany’s Manuel Neuer.

“He’s the best goalkeeper I’ve ever seen. Period,” said Hummels. “There won’t be any coordination problem between us, but rather mutual benefit.”