Germany drew 0-0 with fellow EURO 2024 qualifiers Ukraine in a hard-fought encounter 11 days before the tournament’s opening game against Scotland (14th June, 21:00 CEST). At a sold-out Max-Morlock-Stadion in Nuremberg, head coach Julian Nagelsmann’s side put in a dominant performance and played some good football, but were just missing an end product in front of goal.
Nagelsmann’s team will play their final friendly ahead of the tournament on home soil against Greece on Friday (20:45 CEST) at BORUSSIA-PARK in Mönchengladbach. As well as Scotland, Germany will also face Hungary (19th June, 18:00 CEST) and Switzerland (23rd June, 21:00 CEST) in the group stage of EURO 2024.
Neuer back in goal for first time since World Cup
Nagelsmann named his number one, Manuel Neuer, in the starting eleven. The former Germany captain returned to the side 550 days after his last appearance, which came in the 4-2 win over Costa Rica on 1st December 2022, their final game before elimination from the World Cup in Qatar. Three players from Leverkusen’s double-winning side were also included in the starting line-up, in centre-back Jonathan Tah, midfielder Robert Andrich and young forward Florian Wirtz. Joshua Kimmich featured at right-back, and Stuttgart duo Waldemar Anton and Maximilian Mittelstädt completed the back four along with Tah. Pascal Groß played alongside Andrich in central midfield, with Wirtz, captain Ilkay Gündogan and Jamal Musiala in front of them. Kai Havertz was the lone striker.
Nagelsmann therefore placed his trust in the same core of players who won 2-0 in France and 2-1 over the Netherlands earlier this year. The two Champions League winners and key players Antonio Rüdiger and Toni Kroos will return to the squad on Tuesday, as will the remaining BVB stars.
Gündogan with the best chance of the first half
Cheered on by a crowd of 42,789 fans in Nuremberg, including DFB president Bernd Neuendorf and chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, the home side dominated the first 20 minutes in particular with calm passing play. Germany tried to move the ball quickly in order to break through a strong defensive block from Ukraine. Mittelstädt (10’) and Wirtz (20’) both had efforts from the edge of the area but couldn’t quite get the direction. The best chance of the first half fell to Gündogan after Groß’ ball-in. The captain though miscued the inch-perfect cross and headed it onto his own thigh in the six-yard box (15’).
Ukraine continued to sit deep and play on the counterattack. Viktor Tsygankov had the first chance of the game in the fourth minute on the break. Germany stood strong defensively though with pressing, strong tackling and good positional play, and continued to create opportunities themselves. Groß fired over from distance after being set up by Musiala (29’).
Musiala and Wirtz work their magic but the goal remains elusive
FC Bayern’s Musiala and his fellow attacker Florian Wirtz endeavoured to get the fans of their seats with some mesmerising football. The duo combined with each other again and again, even in the tightest of spaces. In the 42nd minute, Musiala was inches away from putting his side ahead before the break with a deflected effort. At the other end, Neuer was called into action just twice, in the 38th minute and in injury time (45+1’) by Roman Yaremchuk.
After a first half which Germany dominated but failed to produce that end product, Nagelsmann made two changes to his side. Deniz Undav came on for Wirtz and Chris Führich replaced Gündogan at the break. This did not affect the team’s dominance and Germany continued to threaten. A header from Havertz (53’) and a blocked strike from Undav (56’) couldn’t quite find the back of the net, while the recently introduced debutant Maximilian Beier, who came on for Musiala, smashed the bar after a clever through ball from Andrich (61’) before being denied by the goalkeeper (63’).
Debutant Beier poses an immediate danger
At the other end, Neuer saved well from Mykhailo Mudryk, who broke through on goal after latching onto a long ball (60’). Eight minutes later, Ukraine goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin had no problem dealing with Undav’s low effort (68’). Ten minutes after that, Trubin made a more spectacular save from Führich (78’).
In the final minutes, Germany kept on pushing for that winning goal, but their flow, and attacking verve, was admittedly somewhat disrupted by the many substitutions. Undav had the last big chance of the game in injury time (90+2’). Bayern’s Aleksandar Pavlović meanwhile came on for his first international cap.
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Germany drew 0-0 with fellow EURO 2024 qualifiers Ukraine in a hard-fought encounter 11 days before the tournament’s opening game against Scotland (14th June, 21:00 CEST). At a sold-out Max-Morlock-Stadion in Nuremberg, head coach Julian Nagelsmann’s side put in a dominant performance and played some good football, but were just missing an end product in front of goal.
Nagelsmann’s team will play their final friendly ahead of the tournament on home soil against Greece on Friday (20:45 CEST) at BORUSSIA-PARK in Mönchengladbach. As well as Scotland, Germany will also face Hungary (19th June, 18:00 CEST) and Switzerland (23rd June, 21:00 CEST) in the group stage of EURO 2024.
Neuer back in goal for first time since World Cup
Nagelsmann named his number one, Manuel Neuer, in the starting eleven. The former Germany captain returned to the side 550 days after his last appearance, which came in the 4-2 win over Costa Rica on 1st December 2022, their final game before elimination from the World Cup in Qatar. Three players from Leverkusen’s double-winning side were also included in the starting line-up, in centre-back Jonathan Tah, midfielder Robert Andrich and young forward Florian Wirtz. Joshua Kimmich featured at right-back, and Stuttgart duo Waldemar Anton and Maximilian Mittelstädt completed the back four along with Tah. Pascal Groß played alongside Andrich in central midfield, with Wirtz, captain Ilkay Gündogan and Jamal Musiala in front of them. Kai Havertz was the lone striker.
Nagelsmann therefore placed his trust in the same core of players who won 2-0 in France and 2-1 over the Netherlands earlier this year. The two Champions League winners and key players Antonio Rüdiger and Toni Kroos will return to the squad on Tuesday, as will the remaining BVB stars.
Gündogan with the best chance of the first half
Cheered on by a crowd of 42,789 fans in Nuremberg, including DFB president Bernd Neuendorf and chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz, the home side dominated the first 20 minutes in particular with calm passing play. Germany tried to move the ball quickly in order to break through a strong defensive block from Ukraine. Mittelstädt (10’) and Wirtz (20’) both had efforts from the edge of the area but couldn’t quite get the direction. The best chance of the first half fell to Gündogan after Groß’ ball-in. The captain though miscued the inch-perfect cross and headed it onto his own thigh in the six-yard box (15’).
Ukraine continued to sit deep and play on the counterattack. Viktor Tsygankov had the first chance of the game in the fourth minute on the break. Germany stood strong defensively though with pressing, strong tackling and good positional play, and continued to create opportunities themselves. Groß fired over from distance after being set up by Musiala (29’).
Musiala and Wirtz work their magic but the goal remains elusive
FC Bayern’s Musiala and his fellow attacker Florian Wirtz endeavoured to get the fans of their seats with some mesmerising football. The duo combined with each other again and again, even in the tightest of spaces. In the 42nd minute, Musiala was inches away from putting his side ahead before the break with a deflected effort. At the other end, Neuer was called into action just twice, in the 38th minute and in injury time (45+1’) by Roman Yaremchuk.
After a first half which Germany dominated but failed to produce that end product, Nagelsmann made two changes to his side. Deniz Undav came on for Wirtz and Chris Führich replaced Gündogan at the break. This did not affect the team’s dominance and Germany continued to threaten. A header from Havertz (53’) and a blocked strike from Undav (56’) couldn’t quite find the back of the net, while the recently introduced debutant Maximilian Beier, who came on for Musiala, smashed the bar after a clever through ball from Andrich (61’) before being denied by the goalkeeper (63’).
Debutant Beier poses an immediate danger
At the other end, Neuer saved well from Mykhailo Mudryk, who broke through on goal after latching onto a long ball (60’). Eight minutes later, Ukraine goalkeeper Anatoliy Trubin had no problem dealing with Undav’s low effort (68’). Ten minutes after that, Trubin made a more spectacular save from Führich (78’).
In the final minutes, Germany kept on pushing for that winning goal, but their flow, and attacking verve, was admittedly somewhat disrupted by the many substitutions. Undav had the last big chance of the game in injury time (90+2’). Bayern’s Aleksandar Pavlović meanwhile came on for his first international cap.
