Die Mannschaft made it 22 games unbeaten since their EURO 2016 exit, drawing 1-1 with Spain in Düsseldorf on Friday night. 50,653 spectators saw an entertaining encounter at the ESPRIT Arena, in which Thomas Müller’s brilliant strike cancelled out an early opener from Rodrigo Moreno.
The ‘Furia Roja’ caught Germany cold in the opening stages, with the evergreen Andres Iniesta playing the perfect pass to send Rodrigo in one-on-one against Marc-André ter Stegen insdie six minutes, and his finish left the Barcelona keeper with no chance. Joachim Löw’s side didn’t hang their heads though and looked to get back on level terms as soon as possible. A cross from Joshua Kimmich – who received his 2017 Player of the Year award ahead of kick-off – was almost turned home by Julian Draxler, but Dani Carvajal just managed to get the block in. Jonas Hector also came close to equalising in the tenth minute. His first-time shot from around 20 yards zipped inches wide of the post though.
Müller’s stunning leveller
Spain always looked a threat in the final third, and ter Stegen had to be brave to take the ball off David Silva’s boot. It was an end-to-end affair, however, and RB Leipzig’s Timo Werner had the next big chance of the game, albeit with a shot that slipped the wrong side of a beaten David De Gea’s upright.
A couple of half-chances came and went for Die Mannschaft, but in the 35th minute, Thomas Müller picked up the ball on the edge of the box and curled a beautiful shot over the Manchester United keeper and into the back of the net. It was a somewhat unexpected equaliser in the moment, but no less than Germany deserved for their first-half efforts.
Hummels hits the bar
The second 45 started with a bang as Julian Draxler unleashed a thunderous shot from distance that De Gea somehow managed to tip wide off his post. Mesut Özil also came close to scoring the next goal, but had the ball stolen just as he was about to pull the trigger.
Spain soon reminded Die Mannschaft about their defensive duties though. Both Jérôme Boateng and ter Stegen answered the call, with the Bayern defender pulling out a huge block to deny Jordi Alba a free shot on goal, before Germany’s man between the sticks made a stunning save from Isco at point-blank range. That fine stop even led to a chance for his teammates, as Löw’s men went up the other end and substitute Ilkay Gündogan’s low shot destined for the bottom corner was kept out superbly by De Gea’s fingertips once more.
The last big opportunity of the match fell to Mats Hummels. He met Kroos’ dinked delivery into the box with a leaping header, but the ball hit the crossbar and bounced behind to safety. In the end, it was a fair 1-1 draw in a high-quality and entertaining encounter.
