When Jürgen Klopp presented his instructions for the big German football field trial two and a half weeks ago, he divided his national players and those who wanted to become national players into two squads - with only a small overlap. The expectation when looking at the names led everyone to assume that the group for the first two of four Nations League games was rated stronger than the second.
After the fourth game on Sunday evening, this theory should be considered refuted. After the 1-1 draw in the Netherlands and the 0-1 draw against Greece, the first win in the era of the new national coach only came after the change in personnel: the 2-0 draw against Serbia was only followed by a 0-0 draw in Greece. The German performance in the atmospheric Toumba Stadium in Thessaloniki was impressive.
Referee disallows Burkardt's goal
In any case, the Greek fans were relieved and cheered at the final whistle. According to the video images, a goal by Jonathan Burkardt in the first half was disallowed. The Germans remain in third place with five points. The Netherlands team, which won 2-1 against Serbia, is tied with the Greeks at the top. If Germany had lost, first place would have already become unattainable.
Apart from these facts, the conclusion that remained after four games under Klopp was that the counter-pressing, the controlled chaos after losing the ball, worked well this time. The Greeks, who had bypassed Klopp's favorite stylistic device in the first leg with long balls, sometimes didn't even have the time to reach out with their legs to knock the ball away, so quickly was at least one opponent nearby. It seems as if the Germans are getting closer to the ideas of their new national coach.
Klopp expressed the increased importance of the game with his line-up. For the first time there was no debutant in the starting line-up; Compared to the win over Serbia, he only changed three positions: David Raum replaced Maximilian Mittelstädt at left back, Lennart Karl played for the departed Serge Gnabry, Burkardt stormed for Nick Woltemade. That also meant: In the center, the national coach again relied on the tried and tested hard core - Aleksandar Pavlović with Tom Bischof and Florian Wirtz.
He had proven himself to be stable and creative against weak Serbs: the acid test against counter-strong and self-confident Greeks, against whom other qualities were important, was generally not only passed by the midfield, but particularly so. Pavlović called for balls and created them, Bishop was not far behind him and if anyone provided the special moments, it was Wirtz, this time with the captain's armband.
It will be interesting to see how Klopp arranges his center in November. The discussion about captain Joshua Kimmich, who was not there against Serbia and in Greece as agreed, is likely to come up again, even if Klopp doesn't want that. The day before the game he had already realized that he wouldn't be able to do this just by saying so: "I'm giving up on this issue. Officially. Already."
Immediately after kick-off at 9:45 p.m. local time in the Greek port city, the Germans initially had to survive a moment of terror. Space lost sight of Giorgos Masouras when Kostas Tzimikas, who used to play under Klopp at Liverpool, gave him a cross. But Jonas Urbig, who was in goal like against Serbia, made a strong save on the line in the second minute of the game.
Klopp throws his arms around Woltemade – but too soon
Afterwards, a game developed like a week ago in Augsburg, in which Klopp's selection also had a lot of possession of the ball, but at the time had much less idea of what to do with it. The ball now ran forward more directly, faster and more precisely. The reward was a few chances. However, the shots from Wirtz (8th, 20th and 45th + 3 minutes), Raum (23rd) and Derry Scherhant (43rd) all failed to reach the target.
Things changed after about half an hour. After Scherhant's run down the left with a step-over, Burkardt used his cross (32'). The Germans cheered, including Klopp, who first threw his arms around Nick Woltemade on the bench. But the video assistant spoke up. Referee Clement Turpin went to the screen and ruled that it was a criminal offense for the ball to fall on Bishop's arm in midfield in an all-around challenge.
After half-time, the noise level in the old PAOK Saloniki stadium initially increased because the Greeks brought on their young star, Dortmund's Konstantinos Karetsas. But the balance of power on the pitch hardly changed. However, it took until the next chance; Malick Thiaw failed to reach a free kick cross from Wirtz (59'), Scherhant missed (65'). Klopp brought in Woltemade and Said El Mala.
