In the duel between the four-time world champions, Flick trusted his two problem children Leroy Sane and Werner in the starting XI.
However, Werner’s self-confidence suffered after just a few seconds when he stumbled the ball after a dream pass from Müller and thus missed a good chance. Sane was also the center of attention immediately, his shot from 20 meters just missed the goal. At the other end, goalkeeper Neuer prevented an early deficit with his right paw against Giacomo Raspadori, who had escaped Niklas Süle (9′).
Unlike the disappointing performance in Hungary, the DFB-Elf looked for the direct route to the opposing goal from the start. Kimmich and Gündogan, who skilfully varied between the depth and width of the ball, liked the game designers. In addition, some of the Flick team moved up a lot, especially the two full-backs Raum and Lukas Klostermann, which posed major problems for the Italians.
The reward was Kimmich’s 1-0 lead: the Bayern professional sneaked into the penalty area, took the ball with his right after a cross from David Raum and pushed his left through the legs of Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma.
Werner scores twice
Even after that, Germany kept the pressure – but converting chances was a problem. Jonas Hofmann (33rd), Sane (39th) and Werner (40th) missed great opportunities. Gündogan did better from the point after Hofmann was slightly jostled in the penalty area.
The Italians, who are using the Nations League to rebuild their squad after missing out on qualifying for the World Cup, switched to a three-man defense in the second half and came out of the dressing room with verve. But Müller’s goal to make it 3-0 made things clear. The hosts kept finding gaps in the opposing defense – Werner, who was unlucky in the end, took advantage of this, scoring a brace within two minutes (68′, 69′).
Wilfried Gnonto (78′) and Alessandro Bastoni (90’+4) with a header after a corner made the result a little more bearable for Italy.
After four matchdays in the Nations League, Germany is now second in the table. Surprisingly, the leader of the table is Hungary, who defeated England 4-0 in Wolverhampton in the parallel game. The DFB-Elf is one point behind the Magyars.