Qin Youxia: A failure to bring the Germans back to the ground

Sports Weekly All Media Special Reporter Qin Youxia

After being eliminated from the European Cup last summer, Nagelsmann immediately set the goal of winning the 2026 World Cup in disappointment. The premise he believes is to follow Spain and win the European League championship first, thereby accumulating successful experience. The German team's fourth European League trip finally entered the knockout stage for the first time, but in the first game of the top four at home, Nagelsmann's team said goodbye to the champion. Compared to the good game in Stuttgart a year ago and the loss to Spain 1-2 in overtime, the German team was eliminated with reluctance and even a hint of pride. A year later, Germany lost 1-2 to Portugal, which makes people wonder whether the German team's unrestrained and unprepared style of play can become a strong contender for next year's World Cup championship.

Naglesmann followed the three-back system that eliminated Italy in March, approaching a 3331 configuration. Because of glandular fever, Pavlovic, who did not have a continuous rhythm in the second half of the season, stood in a single midfielder, and Gretzka pushed up significantly, playing the No. 9 and a half behind Walter Mad during the offense. Bayern midfielder can indeed find opportunities in the penalty area, but this risky approach still allows the German team to leave a large open space in the midfield when they are on the offense and defensive. Portugal can easily push the counterattack and face the German central defender.

In the first half of the second leg against Italy in the UEFA quarter-finals, Germany played the best half after Brazil in 2014, pressing at high positions was aggressive. When the ball was out of the ball and the opponent one-on-one, everyone was fighting for inch of land, and the three lines worked together. In this game, the German team lost the toxicity of the ball. Portugal, which had better technology than Italy, could bypass the German encirclement, quickly develop the ball to a dangerous area, and use small fast spirit players to form an impact in the open area.

The German team was absent at the same time this time, and the defense leader and the most important goal point in the backcourt were missing. Anton and Koch, who were only the fourth and fifth central defenders in the German team, formed the three central defenders who had never partnered with him, and Jonathan Ta, who was the first to be the defense leader. With such a midfielder and defense configuration, choosing such a aggressive style is still in a knockout match that determines the outcome (and it is an event that I care about and hopes to win the championship at home), and there is obviously a lot of room for discussion. Perhaps since the 2000 European Cup, Germany has defeated Portugal five times in the competition, which has made Nagelsmann and the German team a little blindly confident and too focused on me. Jonadon Ta was completely defeated at the future home Allianz Stadium, with the selection, grabbing, throwing the ball, and one-on-one flaws, making people doubt whether his level can play high-end games for the German team and Bayern.

played for about an hour, and Naglesmann and Martinez chose to replace three players in a row. The appearance of Concesan and Vitinia made the balance of the game completely tilt towards Portugal. Gossen and Gnabry were both terrible, and Phil Kruger could not influence the game. In the last half hour, the German team had no other chance except Adeyemi hit the door frame after a forced breakthrough. Portugal cut into counterattack mode, with one hit and one accurate one. If it weren't for Terstergen's bravery, Germany would have lost 1-3 and 1-4.

Naglesmann admitted after the game that this was the worst game for the German team in the past year and a half, and the record of 17 consecutive games of 90 minutes was also declared to be over. Nasdaq did not use the absence of many leading players such as Musiara and Rudiger as an excuse for losing. But he said that Portugal is indeed better in terms of technical capabilities, with its opponents having 6 or 7 attackers with outstanding technical capabilities, while Germany is one of the few.

Naglesman pursues beautiful football with me as the main one, but this loss must bring him back to reality and reconsider how to balance offense and defense. It is actually a wake-up call to concede 3 goals in the second half against Italy. If you want to become a world champion, the first factor is tough defense and overall combat capability. Argentina in 2022 is the best example. The German team won the World Cup in 2014 and only one goal was conceded in the last three knockout matches. Spain reached the top of the European Cup last year, and the premise for Yamal and Williams to fully play, is that the midfield and backcourt need to stabilize their position.

After defeating France and the Netherlands in the warm-up match in March last year, the outside world has given almost all praises to the German team in the past year and a half. Even if the European Cup lost to Spain, this argument has not changed. The complete defeat against Portugal brought the Germans back to the ground and they had to re-examine themselves and put themselves in the right place, especially for Nagelsmann.