Faced with a fairly weak and unresolved Scotland, Germany impressed for its opening match on Friday, thanks to defensive solidity, a dazzling midfield like the twirling Jamal Musiala and the contributions of the bench at the end of the game. encounter.
IMAGO/Laci Perenyi
This departure allows him to dream big for “his” Euro-2024 at home, but it must be qualified given the absence of Scottish opposition and will have to be confirmed on Wednesday in Stuttgart against Dominik Szoboszlai’s Hungary, in constant progress these last years.
Defensive stability finally found
This sector was the main project for coach Julian Nagelsmann when he took charge of the Nationalmannschaft at the end of September 2023, with only a little more than eight months to work before the start of the Euro.
During the short tenure of his predecessor Hansi Flick (25 matches), the German defense had done almost nothing but change from one match to the next.
“By the summer, we will not be a defensive monster, we are not,” said Nagelsmann, disappointed, in November after the setback in Vienna against Austria.
Kimmich and Mittelstädt
But since then, his strong choices have paid off with, first, Joshua Kimmich placed on the right side and Maximilian Mittelstädt, a revelation in Stuttgart, established on the left.
Then he found his central hinge. Exit Mats Hummels, not selected for the Euro, or Nico Schlotterbeck, now in the role of replacement. With Antonio Rüdiger, spearhead of the Madrid defense, and Jonathan Tah, boss at Leverkusen, Nagelsmann has two players who have played an almost perfect season in their respective clubs, national champions, winner of the Champions League and finalist of the League Europa.
If it hadn’t been for Rüdiger’s own goal at the end of the match, Germany would have had its first match since June 2016 without conceding a goal in a major tournament match.
A mess of talent in the middle
Against Scotland, the title of best player of the match went to Jamal Musiala, dazzling in his dribbling and acceleration against Scottish defenders who generously gave the stick to be beaten.
The Bayern midfielder, who was playing in his backyard, did not miss a single one of his 33 attempted passes against Scotland. And he showed himself to be extremely effective in front of goal, while in November 2022 at the World Cup in Qatar, he missed a considerable number of opportunities during the defeat against Japan for the entry into the running of the Germany (2-1 defeat).
With the other nugget of German football, Florian Wirtz (both 21 years old), he benefited from the contribution of Toni Kroos (34 years old), still on his cloud, he who is playing his last matches before calling an end to his career.
Great architect of Real’s superb season, Kroos remained on the same dynamic with the Mannschaft, missing only one of his 103 passes (out of a total of 700 for Germany) Friday against Scotland.
His coming out of international retirement, to the credit of Nagelsmann, proved decisive for Germany, bringing a newfound serenity in the management of matches.
An established hierarchy
“We have a very good hierarchy in the team, with young people who can set the pace.” Strong man at the end of the season in the Champions League for Borussia Dortmund (unfortunate finalist against Real), Niclas Füllkrug started on the bench, came in and scored with a flashed shot at 110 km/h.
It symbolizes this distribution of roles clearly established by Nagelsmann, who found his typical eleven at the end of March. Every player knows what the coach expects of him.
A last-minute guest after Aleksandar Pavlovic’s injury, Emre Can also returned at the very end of the match and completed the demonstration.
