Good evening! Thanks for joining me tonight for what is sure to be a good game of football, as two of the world's best teams do battle at the San Siro!

Tonight's visitors Germany are currently ranked as the second-best nation in world football by FIFA, while Italy aren't far behind in eighth place - one position higher than England. Germany's strength is shown in the fact that they have reached at least the semi-final stage of the last four major international tournaments. Can you imagine if England could do that?! No? Neither can I...

A number of big names are missing from the Italy squad tonight, as Marco Verratti and Giorgio Chiellini are absent through injury, while Federico Balzaretti, Davide Astori, Lorenzo di Silvestri and Alberto Aquilani have all been dropped. Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi comes back into Cesare Prandelli's squad though.

For Germany, Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Weidenfeller has received his first international call-up at the ripe old age of 33. The Dortmund captain will not start tonight, but could play for the first time for the Nationalmannschaft on Tuesday against England. Also included in the German squad are English-based players Mesut Ozil, Per Mertesacker and Andre Schurrle.

ITALY XI: Buffon; Abate, Bonucci, Barzagli, Criscito; Marchisio, Pirlo, Thiago Motta; Montolivo; Balotelli, Osvaldo

Daniele De Rossi misses out with a foot injury, and Giuseppe Rossi is left out as he has the flu, so it's a forward line of Mario Balotelli and Pablo Osvaldo for the Azzurri tonight.

GERMANY XI: Neuer; Lahm, J Boateng, Hummels, Jansen; Khedira, Lahm; Gotze, Kroos, Schurrle; Muller

It looks as though Thomas Muller will lead the line for Germany tonight in what is likely to be a 4-2-3-1 formation. An incredibly strong team selected by Joachim Low, even though Miroslav Klose, Mario Gomez and Per Mertesacker are all unavailable.

A strong team for Germany then, but their recent record against Italy is poor. In fact, they haven't won against tonight's opponents in the last six encounters, a record which stretches way back to June 1995. Germany won 2-0, with Thomas Helmer putting them ahead, before none other than Paulo Maldini scored an own goal. Yikes!

Also playing their parts that night were Markus Babbel, Matthias Sammer, Steffen Freund, Roberto Di Matteo and Gianfranco Zola. The sides weren't too bad back then either!

If you hadn't already heard, England are playing Chile tonight at Wembley in another international friendly, and Pablo Osvaldo isn't the only Southampton player in action. Both Jay Rodriguez and Adam Lallana have been handed starts by Roy Hodgson tonight. You can keep track of all the happenings in London here.

And that's not all. We've also got live text commentaries of Republic of Ireland vs Latvia, Scotland vs USA and Turkey vs Northern Ireland.
And that's still not all! We are also bringing you live commentaries from all of tonight's World Cup qualifiers, which are located on the right hand side of the page. You see them? Good.
And breath...

Anyway, back to the game in Italy and the teams have just walked out onto the pitch and the national anthems are playing.

Just time for a quick prediction then, and I'm going to stick my neck on the line and say that Germany will end their Italian hoodoo with a 3-2 win tonight. You heard it here first, there's going to be goals tonight!

KICKOFF! HERE WE GO!

A good start by the home side! Mario Balotelli muscles his way past two German players on the halfway line and charges towards goal. He hits a half-volley towards goal, but it drifts wide.

A free-kick for Italy 25 yards out, as Jerome Boateng handballs a Balotelli flick, but the Juventus veteran fires his effort over the bar.

Germany have managed to get their foot on the ball and take a bit of the sting out of the game somewhat in the last couple of minutes.

It seems as though my prediction about Thomas Muller starting as the central striker for Germany was wrong. The Bayern Munich man has started on the right flank, with his teammate Mario Gotze starting in what many now call a 'false-nine' role.

A superb header by the German defender puts Germany 1-0 up against the run of play! He rose highest at a corner and nodded in down towards the bottom corner, where it bounced off the post and across the line before spinning into the back of the net. He couldn't have placed it any better!

CHANCE! It's almost 2-0! Benedikt Howedes leaps highest from another German corner, are flashes a powerful header inches past the near post. The Italians look nervy defending set pieces!

There's a good pace to this game, with a lot of the play coming in and around the penalty boxes at either end.

They're underway at Wembley. If you want to find out what's happening there, just click here.

Joachim Low is studying his notes on the touchline, but he must be happy with the way his side have responded to Italy's early pressure.

Sami Khedira tests Gianluigi Buffon from range, and the veteran goalkeeper leaps to his right to tip the ball away. A decent save.

Balotelli shows some neat footwork to sidestep two Italian defenders on the edge of the box, but his third touch is too heavy and it runs away from him. He tries to claim a foul, but the referee made the right decision to wave play on.

There's been a goal at Wembley.... and it has gone the way of Chile! Alexis Sanchez has put the away side ahead with a brilliant diving header after just seven minutes!

And Republic of Ireland have also gone ahead. I'll give you one guess as to who has scored. Yep, that's right, Robbie Keane.

Italy have dominated possession in the last few minutes, but they've struggled to create any chances. Germany are defending very well, with Phillip Lahm marshalling his teammates from his newly-found defensive midfield position.

Oh my word! What a wonderfully crafted goal that is! Just as I say that Germany have been defending well, they give the ball away pretty much on the corner flag, but there is still a lot of work to do. Ignazio Ibate nips in to win the ball and lays it into Pablo Osvaldo. The Southampton forward flicks the ball back to the right-back, who lashes the ball across the body of Manuel Neuer and into the back of the net via the post. Wonderful, wonderful stuff!

CROSSBAR! Italy almost let their lead sip with a moment of stupidity. They give the ball away in a dangerous area, and Andre Schurrle opts to shoot instead of driving at goal. His dipping drive evades Buffon but bounces off the top of the bar and bounces away.

Balotelli is cutting a frustrated figure so far. He has just screamed at the referee after another decision went against him.

Osvaldo heads miles wide from Pirlo's free-kick on the right wing. Italy look the side most likely to score next, but we all know what happened next when I said that last time around...

He's down again. Balotelli broke away from Hummels, who seemed to drag the forward back just as he was about to pull the trigger. The Itlaian forward was justified in his protests there, that should have been a free-kick.

You can tell these sides are both ranked in the top ten of the FIFA rankings. Every player on the pith is comfortable receiving the ball regardless of whether they are being marked.

Two very, very good goals in this game leaves the sides level at 1-1. Ibate's goal was downright beautiful! Italy have probably just about edged it, but Germany have had the better chances. The away side have frustrated Italy by giving away many niggly fouls to break up play, and Balotelli is becoming more and more frustrated. Sound familiar?

Let's take a tour round Europe, shall we? It's half time in three of the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. Greece lead Romania 2-1, while it is 0-0 in the Portugal vs Sweden and Ukraine vs France matches. The only international friendly to have reached half time is the Republic of Ireland vs Latvia game, where Robbie Keane has given his nation the lead.

England are still trailing 1-0 to Alexis Sanchez's early header.

I wouldn't be surprised if there's a host of changes in the second half, but there's enough quality on either bench. Germany can call on the likes of Mesut Ozil, Julian Draxler and Max Kruse, while Alberto Gilardino is likely to make a second-half appearance for the Azzurri.

Ozil and Draxler are both warming up at half time, and they're likely to enter the fray soon.

That's late. Andre Schurrle is left clutching his face after a very late challenge by Thiago Motta. The German winger knocked the ball around the Italian number five, who stood his ground and barged into Schurrle. Motta could've moved out of the way and is lucky to escape a booking there.

Nice football by Germany. Schurrle sends a shot wide of the far post, but it was the build-up play that caught the eye there. Muller drove at the defence and played a one-two before laying the ball of the the Chelsea winger. Muller was caught late by Pirlo, but the Italian midfielder got away with that one.

CLOSE! Pirlo lines a free-kick up 30 yards out from goal, slightly left of central. Everyone is expecting a shot, but the 35-year-old slips a ball down the outside of the wall to Claudio Marchisio, who forces Neuer into a good save at his near post.

SUBSTITUTION: Pablo Osvaldo is replaced by Antonio Candreva for the hosts. It was Osvaldo's tidy finish that led to Ibate's glorious leveller.

BOOKING: The first yellow card of the night goes to the German captain Phillip Lahm. It was probably a product of a series of fouls by the German side, who have disrupted play on so many occasions this evening with cynical fouls.

CHANCE! Domenico Criscito fizzes a low ball across the face of goal, where Balotelli is waiting. The AC Milan forward swings a leg at the ball, but Mats Hummels gets across to make the block with a crunching tackle. Cries for a penalty ring around the San Siro, but that was strong defending by Hummels. He threw his body on the line there.

SUBSTITUTION: Andre Schurrle has come off to be replaced by Marco Reus, and Mesut Ozil comes on in place of Mario Goetze.

A let off for Germany. Balotelli lays the ball wide to Riccardo Montolivio, who tries to play a return ball to the striker, but Jerome Boateng blocks the pass with his arms. The referee tried to play advantage, but the play petered out for the home side. He should have come back to give the free-kick.

OUCH! A nasty tackle by Sami Khedira on Andrea Pirlo, but it's the German who comes off worse. He's hobbling off the pitch, being helped by two paramedics and that is likely to be a concern for both Joachim Low and the Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti.

The second half is yet to take off in all honesty. There's been little goalmouth action at either end since half time.

BOOKING: That's about as clear-cut a booking as you'll ever. Julian Draxler runs at the Italian defence on a quick breakaway and Claudio Marchisio runs across the ball of him and clips his heels to bring him down.

SUBSTITUTION: Sven Bender replaced the injured Sami Khedira of Germany earlier and Angelo Ogbonna has come on for Andrea Barzagli for the Italians.

Mats Hummels heads high and wide from a central free-kick. It was in complete contrast to his goal in the first half.

The only action at the moment is fouls! Marcell Jansen the latest culprit.

Muller latches onto a ball in the Italian box, but the referee blows up for a foul.

There's been a goal... but not in this game. Cristiano Ronaldo seems to have won the battle of the egos for the time being in Portugal's first-leg playoff against Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Sweden. He's put his side 1-0 up with a diving header less than 10 minutes before full time.

HANDBAGS! Toni Kroos gets himself a booking for an incredibly late foul on Thiago Motta. He swiped at the the Italian midfielder's heels not once, but twice, with no intention to win the ball. A mass brawl ensued, and Motta is lucky to stay on the pitch after jabbing his hand into the face of Sven Bender. The referee was right next to the situation, but saw fit to only book Motta. A bizarre decision to let him play on, it was a definite red card!

This second half has been awful, to be quite frank! Neither team seem too fussed about pushing for a winner, and seem to be quite content with a draw.

Germany are appealing for a penalty, but the referee gives a free-kick to Italy, despite Benedikt Howedes being the player who ended up on the floor. Another strange decision by the referee.

SUBSTITUTIONS: Lars Bender has come on for Germay, and Alessio Cerci has replaced Andrea Pirlo.

POST! Ooooh! Germany come within inches of winning the match with the last kick of the game! Benedikt Howedes of all people pops up in the Italian box and smashes a volley against the inside of the far post! The ball rebounds back to Marco Reus and Sven Bender, who get in each others way and the chance - open goal and all - goes amiss.

What a chance to nick it right at the death for Germany! Howedes was unlucky with his effort, but Reus and Bender completely and utterly mucked up the rebound with an open goal gaping. It would have been incredibly harsh on Italy though, who probably shaded proceedings this evening, but the second half was an awful 45 minutes of football punctuated by niggly fouls and petty reactions.

Thanks for sticking with me tonight through what was a pretty turgid affair, but Ibate's first half equaliser was worth sitting through the rest of the game! Just a reminder before I go that England are still playing against Chile - there's a few minutes left. Thanks again, and enjoy the rest of your night!