Germany made a great start to the UEFA European Under-21 Championships last night with Vitaly Janelt involved. The Brentford midfield player is part of the Germany squad for the tournament, which is now underway. Germany beat Hungary 3-0 last night and Vitaly came off the substitute’s bench to see them over the line.

The Under-21 Championships will be taking place in two stages this year. The group stage started in Hungary and Slovenia yesterday, with 16 teams competing in four groups of four. The eight teams who reach the knock-out stages will head back to Hungary and Slovenia in late May to decide who takes home the trophy.

Germany beat co-hosts Hungary last night thanks to three quickfire goals. They had to wait until the hour mark before Lukas Nmecha, of Manchester City, put them in front. Within 12 minutes they had an unassailable 3-0 lead with Ridle Baku getting the other two goals.

Vitaly played the final 15 minutes of the win last night, earning his seventh cap at that level. They will continue their tournament on Saturday, 27 March, with a match against The Netherlands. Their last match in the group stage will be next Tuesday, 30 March, against Romania. The top two each group will play the knock-out stages in the summer. Romania and Netherlands drew 1-1 last night.

The tournament continues today with the chance of more Brentford involvement. Iceland, who could have Patrik Gunnarsson in their team, play Russia at 5pm. Denmark, who have Mads Roerslev and Mads Bech Sørensen, in their squad are in the same group, facing France at 8pm.

Brentford signed Vitaly from Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, better known as VfL Bochum, in autumn 2020. He has been almost ever-present since he arrived, playing 36 games and scoring three goals. He has played 33 Sky Bet Championship games for The Bees, starting 28 of them, and has contributed two assists as well as his three goals.

Vitaly has also been a regular part of the German team at youth levels. His first appearances for his country came at Under-15 level and he has also played for Germany at Under-17, Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 level. He played for Germany in the FIFA Under-17 World Cup and UEFA Under-17 European Championships in 2015. Vitaly was part of the side that lost to France in the final of the European Championships and reached the last 16 of the World Cup.