Germany remain unbeaten against Italy after their third duel with Gli Azzurri in 2016. Despite being a goalless draw, the match was far from boring as the two teams faced each other barely five months after Germany’s dramatic win over the Italians on penalties at the Euros. It was also Die Mannschaft’s sixth consecutive game without conceding a goal.
Italy dominated possession for large periods but Germany looked dangerous on the counterattack. The away side worked hard, were strong in the challenges and were quick to move the ball. Substitute Kevin Volland had a goal ruled out for offside, while at the other end Andrea Belotti hit the post minutes before the final whistle. The result means Italy maintain their unbeaten record at the Giuseppe-Meazza Stadium.
Gerhard makes his debut, seven changes to the starting XI
Head coach Joachim Löw gave Yannick Gerhardt his first-team debut by bringing him on in the 86th minute and made a total of seven changes to the team that beat San Marino 8-0. Only Mats Hummels, Joshua Kimmich, Ilkay Gündogan and Thomas Müller started both games.
The back line consisted of Bernd Leno, Shkodran Mustafi Benedikt Höwedes and Hummels as Germany started with three in defence. Sebastian Rudy and Julian Weigl occupied the centre of midfield behind Gündogan and Leon Goretzka, whose duty was to provide service for Thomas Müller up front.
Italy attack early, Goretzka has the first chance
Both teams threw caution to the wind at the legendary Giuseppe-Meazza Stadium. Italy took the initiative from the outset and 22-year-old Andrea Belotti had the first opportunity of the game after just 65 seconds following an error from Mustafi, but he missed by some margins. Höwedes beat former Dortmund striker Ciro Immobile to a header but after an impressive move between Belotti and Immobile, it came to Eder in a promising position but he failed to connect with the ball.
The Italians constantly made it difficult for Germany and made the pitch extremely narrow. Die Mannschaft had to rely on counterattacks and had the best chance of the match so far in the 11th minute. Gündogan sent Goretzka through with a superb pass into space. The Schalke man made the run at the right moment and found himself alone in front of Buffon but had difficulty controlling the ball. He consequently failed to beat Italy’s captain, who equalled the European record for the most appearances with his 167th international game and once again put in a strong performance.
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Germany remain unbeaten against Italy after their third duel with Gli Azzurri in 2016. Despite being a goalless draw, the match was far from boring as the two teams faced each other barely five months after Germany’s dramatic win over the Italians on penalties at the Euros. It was also Die Mannschaft’s sixth consecutive game without conceding a goal.
Italy dominated possession for large periods but Germany looked dangerous on the counterattack. The away side worked hard, were strong in the challenges and were quick to move the ball. Substitute Kevin Volland had a goal ruled out for offside, while at the other end Andrea Belotti hit the post minutes before the final whistle. The result means Italy maintain their unbeaten record at the Giuseppe-Meazza Stadium.
Gerhard makes his debut, seven changes to the starting XI
Head coach Joachim Löw gave Yannick Gerhardt his first-team debut by bringing him on in the 86th minute and made a total of seven changes to the team that beat San Marino 8-0. Only Mats Hummels, Joshua Kimmich, Ilkay Gündogan and Thomas Müller started both games.
The back line consisted of Bernd Leno, Shkodran Mustafi Benedikt Höwedes and Hummels as Germany started with three in defence. Sebastian Rudy and Julian Weigl occupied the centre of midfield behind Gündogan and Leon Goretzka, whose duty was to provide service for Thomas Müller up front.
Italy attack early, Goretzka has the first chance
Both teams threw caution to the wind at the legendary Giuseppe-Meazza Stadium. Italy took the initiative from the outset and 22-year-old Andrea Belotti had the first opportunity of the game after just 65 seconds following an error from Mustafi, but he missed by some margins. Höwedes beat former Dortmund striker Ciro Immobile to a header but after an impressive move between Belotti and Immobile, it came to Eder in a promising position but he failed to connect with the ball.
The Italians constantly made it difficult for Germany and made the pitch extremely narrow. Die Mannschaft had to rely on counterattacks and had the best chance of the match so far in the 11th minute. Gündogan sent Goretzka through with a superb pass into space. The Schalke man made the run at the right moment and found himself alone in front of Buffon but had difficulty controlling the ball. He consequently failed to beat Italy’s captain, who equalled the European record for the most appearances with his 167th international game and once again put in a strong performance.
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Brilliant stuff from Gündogan
At the opposite end of the field, Leno was forced into action for the first time in the 13th minute. The Leverkusen keeper made a fine save to keep out a fierce 18-metre strike from Daniele Rugani, parrying it over the bar. It was often three on three at the back for Germany against the attacking Italian trio of Andrea Belotti, Ciro Immobile and Eder. Mustafi in particular looked very strong in this phase of the match in defence. As the back three pushed up, Daniel de Rossi played it through to Immobile but Leno was quick to come out of his goal and forced the Lazio striker to blast his shot wide.
Germany continued to hold their own, putting in some strong challenges and countering with pace. Müller found Gerhardt out wide, who whipped it into the box but his cross just failed to find Gündogan as Buffon claimed it. The 38-year-old keeper was also there to save from Gündogan’s volley minutes later.
Italy’s attackers began to peter out of the match as crosses failed to reach them. Moreover, the Germany back line dealt with Italy’s long balls very comfortably. It was Goretzka who let fly shortly before the break after a lay-off from Müller following a Kimmich cross. However Leonardo Bonucci blocked the shot and both teams headed into the dressing room with the match goalless after a high-quality 45 minutes.
Volland just offside
Löw brought on Jonathan Tah for Hummels at half time, who was tested immediately in his third international appearance as he skilfully kept out Immobile and Eder multiple times. Germany let the opposition get into the game and had a lot less possession than in the opening 45 minutes. Fast breakaways mostly came through Gündogan, but Goretzka and Müller were not able to convert.
Substitutes Serge Gnabry and Volland provided some fresh legs when they came on in the 60th minute. Volland had the ball in the back of the net with his first touch after meeting a low cross into the box from Kimmich but he was marginally offside. Mario Götze also came on not long afterwards in place of Weigl. However it was the Italians then had a magnificent opportunity to take the lead. Immobile cut inside on the left and found Federico Bernardeschi in the box, who was totally unmarked and shot from twelve metres out, but Leno did well to parry it away.
Belotti hits the post
Both teams frantically sought to find a winner. As Volland let fly towards the left side of the goal, it found Immobile who was in plenty of space, but the Italian curled it past the post.
After that, Germany were once again extremely solid at the back but Belotti almost fired the hosts to victory. The man from Turin suddenly found himself free in the penalty area eight minutes from time but his strike from eight metres rattled the far post.
