Spain-Germany: a royal shock for a place in the Final Four

A gala poster that looks like a final.

If this is not the final of a World Cup or a Euro (victory of Spain 1-0 over Germany in the final of Euro 2008 in Austria), this shock at the top between the Spain and Germany is, on the other hand, the "final" of group 4 in League A of the League of Nations this Tuesday evening (8.45pm).

The stake of this last match of the group stage is therefore essential since the winner will go to the semi-finals.

A Spain still in progress

La Roja, who led the group at the end of the first leg of the Nations League with 7 out of 9 points, has recently lost ground.

It all started with a surprising defeat in Ukraine (1-0, October 13).

Then, Luis Enrique's players drew (1-1) in the Netherlands in a friendly last Wednesday.

Finally, Spain snatched a second draw (1-1) in Switzerland on Saturday during the 5th day of the Nations League.

Thus, Spain has not won for three meetings.

If the performance against the Netherlands was well made, the performance in Switzerland was not up to par.

The 6th nation in the FIFA rankings led by Sergio Ramos should have done better than a new parity score.

The captain of Real Madrid and the selection did not live his 177th selection (which makes him the most capped European player in history) as he would have liked.

Indeed, the emblematic central defender missed two straight penalties (57th and 80th) in Switzerland.

The Spaniard, who reached 100 goals for Real, ended his insane streak of 25 consecutive converted penalties.

Fortunately for his team, Gerard Moreno scored the equalizer goal at the very end of the match (89th) against the locals who were playing 10 against 11 during the last 10 minutes after the expulsion of defender Nico Elvedi.

The Spanish coach is still looking for the right formula between essential executives, young people and newcomers.

The triple European champion will have to raise his level of play if he wants to recover first place in Germany and participate in the Final Four of the League of Nations with France.

To qualify in the last four of the competition, Spain must win at all costs at home.

A Germany going up the slope

For its part, Germany is finding color again.

It is even the opposite trend with Spain.

During the first four meetings of the second edition of this European competition, the Nationalmannschaft had only 6 points (1 victory and 3 draws).

But the German selection recovered by beating the Czech Republic last Wednesday in a friendly match (1-0) and Ukraine (3-1) on Saturday on the occasion of the 5th day of the League of Nations.

Timo Werner scored twice and made a strong impression.

The Chelsea striker carried his team in this second win in a row.

And Leroy Sané responded to the Ukrainian opener with his equalizing goal.

In short, the formidable trio - Timo Werner, Serge Gnabry and Leroy Sané - made their whole class speak.

"It was a very difficult game," said Munich's Leon Goretzka after the success, author of two assists.

"In our current situation we absolutely need wins, we did it and so it was a good night."

Thanks to its success and the false leap of Spain, the 14th world nation, quadruple world champion and triple European champion, took the lead of the group (9 points) with one point more than Spain.

Therefore, Joachim Löw's men only need a draw in Sevilla to secure first place in the group and qualify for next fall's Final Four.

At the end of the 23 confrontations between these two huge football nations, Germany dominates with nine wins to seven. And the two teams have separated seven times with a draw.

The Nationalmannschaft will therefore be keen to maintain its supremacy against La Roja.

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