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1/17
Manuel Neuer (goalkeeper):
fourth Nations League game, fourth mission for the captain.
The day before the game against Italy, Neuer had already made it clear that he did not want to forego any missions with regard to Qatar.
The national coach follows him, and Kevin Trapp's strong form doesn't change that.
And Neuer showed once again that he is one of the best goalkeepers in the world.
When Giacomo Raspadori had a big chance, he saved with a mixture of positional play and reflex action (8th minute), and when Süle passed the ball back, he let the rushing Raspadori run into the void with his technique (29th).
In the second half, a murmur went through the stadium because Neuer saved again on the line against Barella, who finished from close range, but the goal would not have counted due to an offside position (57th).
Photo: Alex Grimm/Getty Images
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2/17
Lukas Klostermann (defense):
Asymmetric full-back pairs are now widespread in football.
The defensive role usually falls to the Leipzig player, as it did on this evening in Mönchengladbach.
While David Raum often acted as a striker on the left, Klostermann usually stayed alongside Rüdiger and Süle in defense.
But sometimes he dared to venture - and then Klostermann reached his technical limits.
All in all, a solid performance.
You just can't expect more from him.
Photo: HEIKO BECKER / REUTERS
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3/17
Antonio Rüdiger (defense):
Like his neighbor Niklas Süle, Rüdiger also played one or the other strong pass over 40, 50 meters into the opposing half.
After a corner from Kimmich, the central defender headed just wide of the goal (15').
Rüdiger is the boss in this defence, whether it's a back three or four, whether Süle or Nico Schlotterbeck (who was suspended this time) is playing alongside him.
Rüdiger also fills this role because at the end of this long season he didn't shy away from any sprint or physical exertion.
Photo: SASCHA STEINBACH / EPA
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4/17
Niklas Süle (defense, up to the 87th minute):
In the early stages, the Neu-Dortmund attacker Raspadori escaped and Italy almost took the lead (8th).
Just two minutes later, Süle opened the game with a diagonal pass to Werner, followed by Kimmich to make it 1-0.
Germany's central defenders are currently moving in this area of tension: strong in the game structure, with a lack of concentration in the actual area of responsibility.
As the game progressed, Süle made one or two mistakes in positional play, which should get better with regular match practice in Dortmund.
Photo: Martin Meissner / AP
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5/17
Jonathan Tah (defense, from the 87th minute, archive photo):
In the ranking of central defenders, the Leverkusen player is far behind in fifth or sixth place.
At the end of the season, Flick gave him a few minutes of play.
Photo:
ODD ANDERSEN v AFP
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6 / 17
David Raum (defense):
The second full-back also showed an unsurprising performance.
Raum can enrich every team with the strengths in the offensive, the template for 1-0 from Kimmich was characterized by great overview.
However, full-back is one of the most demanding positions, because defensive work is at least as important as a good attacking game.
At the beginning of the second half, Raum made two mistakes under pressure, and this is where he needs to improve.
Hoffenheim was then involved again in the preparation of the third goal.
Photo: INA FASSBENDER / AFP
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7/17
İlkay Gündoğan (midfield, up to 88 minutes):
Every football fan knows what great performances Gündoğan is capable of.
But he shows that above all in the Manchester City jersey, in the national team his performances have often fallen behind in the past.
Not so tonight against Italy.
Teamed up with Kimmich, who took on his more defensive role, Gündoğan was the boss in Germany's midfield.
Sometimes he offered himself low, sometimes he looked for his way to the top, Gündoğan played many clever passes.
He crowned his strong performance with the converted penalty to make it 2-0 (45+1).
Photo: THILO SCHMUELGEN / REUTERS
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8/17
Anton Stach (midfield, from the 88th minute, archive photo):
The man from Mainz can be happy to be in the Bundesliga after his debut season.
This brief assignment was a final reward for the national coach.
Photo: IMAGO/Matthias Koch
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9/17
Joshua Kimmich (midfield):
It may be due to his long DFB break with four international matches missed in November and March, but Kimmich is the only professional besides Neuer that Flick did not give a break to in the Nations League.
It paid off early on, Kimmich cleverly moved into the penalty area in the tenth minute, got the cross pass from space and pushed in for the lead.
After his goal, Kimmich was mainly required as a worker and tackler in defensive midfield, and he filled this role well.
Photo: IMAGO / IMAGO/ActionPictures
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10/17
Jonas Hofmann (midfield, up to 64 minutes):
Home game for the only Mönchengladbacher in the squad.
He was an early winner of this international series with his goals against England and Hungary.
In his stadium, Hofmann was allowed to start again in the offensive row of three.
In the first half, the latecomer started behind the defense several times, but was not passed.
After a good combination via Sané and Werner, Hofmann got the great opportunity to score the next goal, but Gianluigi Donnarumma made a strong save (33').
In added time in the first half, he took the penalty to make it 2-0.
Photo: THILO SCHMUELGEN / REUTERS
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11/17
Serge Gnabry (midfield, from the 64th minute):
If only substitutes always worked so quickly and effectively.
Gnabry was only four minutes on the pitch when he came in on the left, was sought by Müller and Werner made it 4-0 (68th).
The Italian defense was still unsorted in the following attack when Gnabry intercepted a pass from Donnarumma and served Werner again (69th).
Photo: INA FASSBENDER / AFP
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12/17
Thomas Müller (midfield, up to the 75th minute):
The man from Munich was one of the assets in the good early phase of the DFB team.
Müller moved a lot, demanded the balls, directed his neighbors on the offensive and had clever ideas.
At first he was less convincing in the end, more as a preparer, the pass before Leroy Sané's shot deserved a little more accuracy in the end (39th).
But after the break it was Müller who ended the Italian national team's urgent phase with his goal to make it 3-0 (51st) and helped prepare the fourth goal with a chip on Gnabry.
Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
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13/17
Jamal Musiala (midfield, from the 75th minute):
The young star from FC Bayern brings a lot with him that is otherwise missing in this DFB squad.
In the 15 minutes against Italy, however, the game was already over and no more dribbling was necessary.
Photo: Martin Meissner / AP
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14/17
Leroy Sané:
The first good action by Sané, who returned to the starting XI, combined hope and blame, as so often in recent months.
Sané was released wonderfully in midfield, he had a lot of grass in front of him.
But the 26-year-old hesitated and didn't use his speed.
With a bit of luck, the ball landed on the right foot, Sané's low shot went just wide of the goal to the left.
Even if not everything worked out: He should take the momentum from this game into the summer break and into the new season.
Donnarumma parried Sané's unplaced shot (39'), a few seconds later he freed Werner in a counterattack (40').
In the second half, Sané was also involved in many offensive actions, but he didn't want to score a goal.
Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
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15/17
Timo Werner (attack, up to 75 minutes):
Starting XI, substitute, starting XI, starting XI – this is Werner's record in this Nations League quadruple.
The 26-year-old is Flick's number one striker.
It took Werner just 20 seconds to prove his self-confidence, which he had suffered massively.
He destroyed a strong pass from Müller behind the defensive line with a jittery first contact.
Werner didn't come to the end, and the subsequent return pass also failed.
Another proof?
Again, Werner was released well (running there is also part of good striker work), the dribbling failed, and the blocked cross hit Werner's shin, from where the ball went out of goal.
The attacker just doesn't want to succeed these days, not even in the 40th minute when Donnarumma blocked his shot.
Photo: Martin Rose/Getty Images
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16/17
Lukas Nmecha (attack, from the 75th minute):
When Werner scored, the Wolfsburg man was allowed onto the field.
Not much more happened in the final phase, however.
PHOTO: JOHN MACDOUGALL / AFP
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17 / 17
Hansi Flick (national coach):
The national coach returned to the back four, like eleven days ago in the 1-1 draw in Bologna.
But that was not the key to this clear victory against Italy.
In the days after the disappointing draw in Hungary, Flick managed to tickle his team and convey the importance of a successful conclusion.
Already in the first few minutes the will to finish, deep runs and combination football could be seen.
Flick did not experiment, the young guns like Karim Adeyemi (not in the squad this time) or Lukas Nmecha did not get any closer to the starting eleven.
In the direction of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, many ideas and constants can already be identified.
Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images
