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Germany: Weigl, Kimmich grateful to Tuchel, Guardiola

Germany Euro 2016: Borussia Dortmund's Julian Weigl and Bayern Munich's Joshua Kimmich grateful to Thomas Tuchel, Pep Guardiola

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Germany newcomers Julian Weigl and Joshua Kimmich have hailed the roles their respective club coaches played in their elevation to the national team.

Weigl, 20, has enjoyed a breakthrough season since leaving 1860 Munich for Borussia Dortmund in June, breaking the Bundesliga record for touches in a single match by notching 214 in a 2-2 draw with Koln earlier this month.

The midfielder has done enough for Joachim Low to include him in the world champions' Euro 2016 squad and he has his Dortmund boss to thank for that rapid rise to the big stage.

"For me it was important that I had a talk with Thomas Tuchel before the season, whether I dared [to make] the [move] to Borussia Dortmund or not," Weigl said.

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"He developed me from day one. His training is very [varied], but also partly very complicated, you have to think a lot.

"I think he made me faster in my actions and made me better through the training sessions. In the season it was very important that he gave me a lot of trust and also [lots of] playing time. And for that I'm very happy and I'm pleased to be a player under him."

Kimmich meanwhile has benefited from a lengthy injury list at Bayern Munich, where his Manchester City-bound coach helped to increase his versatility.

"I played a lot of different positions under Pep Guardiola," he said.

"And that helped me a lot, you get another look [at] the field and the game itself when you [are] playing different positions. You learn a lot from that.

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"At Bayern, we had [lots of] ball possession and personally he showed me some gaps, which you have [in] different positions and that you haven't seen in that way before. Also [without] the ball, pressing and pressing against [the opposition] ... I learned a lot from that. Especially in playing with the ball, he helped me along."

Germany, who lost to Italy in the semi-finals of Euro 2012, have been drawn against Ukraine, Poland and Northern Ireland in Group C of next month's tournament.

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