Germany Beat Italy 5-4 On Aggregate To Reach UEFA Nations League Final Four

The German national team is through to the final four of the UEFA Nations League after beating Italy 5-4 on aggregate. After a 2-1 win in Italy on Thursday, Germany secured a 3-3 draw on Sunday in Dortmund and will now host the final four tournament with games taking place in Stuttgart and Munich.

That game, however, was truly a tale of two halves. Germany was excellent in the first 45 minutes, heading to the dressing rooms with a 3-0 lead thanks to goals by Joshua Kimmich (30’ pen.), Jamal Musiala (36’) and Tim Kleindienst.

“I think the first half was the best we’ve had since I have been here,” Bundestrainer Julian Nagelsmann said after the game. “We were great with the ball, aggressive defensively, and scored three goals.”

If the first half was one of the best under Nagelsmann, the second half was perhaps one of the worst halves since the 37-year-old took the job. At the very least, the performance was a throwback to the early days when his team lost to Türkiye (2-3) and Austria (0-2) in the fall of 2023.

“In the second half, we had to make changes because not everyone could play for 90 minutes,” Nagelsmann said. “We conceded the first, then the second, and then there was doubt. Unlike the first half, the biggest problem was that we played too many passes backward.”

Sure, changes would play a role. But part of the story is also that Germany started the second half poorly straight out of the dressing room. Nagelsmann, in fact, didn’t make his first change until the 63rd minute when Pascal Groß and Nadiem Amiri came on for Angelo Stiller and Leon Goretzka.

Six minutes later, Italy scored their second. The reflex reaction would be to suggest that without Stiller and Goretzka, Germany lost control in midfield. But control already started to slip before those substitutions were made.

An argument could be made that perhaps Nagelsmann tried to bring back control by adding Groß, in particular. But the Dortmund man has struggled all season, and with him on the field, control started to slip even further.

Amiri, too, added very little stability. The same can be said about some of the other substitutions. Although Leroy Sané once again struggled to add anything of substance to the game, Karim Adeyemi wasn’t much of an upgrade once he came on.

Oddly enough, while Nagelsmann managed to win the first leg from the bench after Germany struggled for the first 45 minutes in Italy, his decisions weren’t spot on in the second half today. Perhaps this time around, the game wasn’t decided from the bench but Germany’s reluctance to take the second half seriously.

Indeed, some stability was finally achieved when Yann-Aurel Bisseck and Robert Andrich came on for Antonio Rüdiger and Jamal Musiala. Italy would ultimately score a third from the spot.

Italy certainly deserved that third goal. It didn’t change the fact that Germany is through to the final fourth of the UEFA Nations League for the first time in the tournament’s history.

So, what are the big takeaways from the game? “I don’t want to talk too much about the second half,” Nagelsmann said. “I think the biggest conclusion from these two games is that we know what we can do, but we still must improve. It was great for our development.”

Indeed, the game will provide important lessons for both players and the coaching staff. For 90 minutes across the two legs, Nagelsmann had this tactic spot on, and Germany played amazing football. On the flip side, there were also 90 minutes in which Die Nationalmannschaft was almost played off the pitch.

On balance, it was enough to see an Italy side that is probably a few months behind Germany’s development. Although ultimately going through is a success, Germany will have to do much better in the semifinal against a Portugal side that is among the best in European football.