Germany can seal automatic qualification to the World Cup finals by beating Russia in Moscow on Saturday, but knows that anything other than victory could allow the Russians to snatch their ticket to South Africa.
With two games left in Group 4, Germany leads Russia by a single point. That means victory for the visitors in Moscow will stretch the margin to four points and force Russia to settle for the runner-up's playoff spot.
In the event of a Russian win or a draw, the group winner will be decided Wednesday, when Germany hosts Finland in Hamburg and Russia travels to Azerbaijan.
Both teams are near full-strength for the match, where Russia will be out to avenge a 2-1 defeat in Dortmund a yea ago. Chelsea wingback Yuri Zhirkov, who has missed several recent matches for club and country due to a lingering knee injury, has trained with the national team and is likely to play.
Germany has been preparing for Saturday's match by training this week on an artificial surface in Mainz similar to the one at Moscow's Luzhniki stadium.
The match has gripped the Russian public, with tickets changing hands for several times face value and volunteers handing out thousands of Russian flags to drivers stuck in traffic. The game is a sellout, with most of the 83,000 fans rooting for the home team.
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