What a collective debacle: Spain show the DFB team in all brutality

Tuesday 17 November 2020

With a good game and group victory in the Nations League, Joachim Löw wants to end this bizarre year of international play. But what the coach of the German national football team then experiences in Seville against Spain is the greatest humiliation of his long term.

A historic shame like the end of a year of lost international matches: the hopelessly overwhelmed national team experienced the worst debacle in 89 years and lost any EM maturity. In the “final” for the victory of the Nations League group in Spain, the puzzling team of national coach Joachim Löw did not have the slightest chance from the start and left the field after a memorable 6-0 defeat (3-0 ). The biggest defeat since 1931 (0: 6 against Austria) followed Löw in shock and petrified on the sidelines.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer had a night to forget in his record match (96th international match), when Alvaro Morata (17th), Ferran Torres (33rd, 55th, 72nd), Rodrigo (38th) and Mikel Oyarzabal (89.) The Bayern goalkeeper was helpless. Neuer’s front men chased almost only the Spanish enthusiasts and revealed terrifying gaps in defense and severe coordination problems. The disaster gives Löw and his team a lot of tasks for the coming year of the European Championship.

“It has been very disappointing for all of us, not just the defensive players,” said Neuer. “The body language was disappointing from everyone. We should have talked more, especially after conceding our first goal. It was too little in terms of leadership and communication. There is no right time for a match like this. “. Serge Gnabry added a little less disappointed: “We had no chance. Spain deserved to win at the top. We did wrong, there is no excuse. Now you know where you are.”

Germany were miles away from their first competitive win against La Roja in 32 years at the Estadio Olimpico de La Cartuja. The recently unconvincing Spaniards qualified for the Final Four in October 2021. There, the world champion France is already determined as the opponent. With the kick-off, Neuer became the only record holder in the history of the DFB. In his 96th international match, the captain overtook Sepp Maier (95), himself a “goalkeeper legend”. However, Neuer is still miles away from international record national player Sergio Ramos, who played for Spain for the 178th time against Germany.

Spain attacked early and hard

Ramos tried Neuer with a free-kick in the 7th minute, which the Bayern goalkeeper blocked. The DFB side were lucky that referee Andreas Ekberg (Sweden) misidentified Ilkay Gündogan’s slight foul on Leipzig professional Dani Olmo outside the penalty area. Unlike the first leg (1: 1), when Löw had experimented with risky man-to-man tactics, the German team began to wait.

On the other hand, the Spaniards attacked quickly and quickly, as their weak point they had obviously chosen the left defense with the inexperienced Philipp Max and Robin Koch. After the resulting 0: 1, Löw’s side moved a little further, which, however, gave way to the counter-strong Spaniards. The failure of Ferran Torres (18th), Morata’s offside position (23rd) and a world-class save by Neuer against Torres (30th) initially prevented the 0-2. But it was only postponed. The rebound after a cross hit by Olmo was used by Torres, criminally abandoned by Max, for the second shot, and three minutes later Rodrigo headed.

The Spaniards, with Ramos and Sergio Canales injured in the first half, dominated the game almost to their liking. But they received almost no resistance. “It was nothing,” ARD expert Bastian Schweinsteiger said at half-time. After switching sides, despite a system change, nothing has changed. Toni Kroos, also disappointed, who missed a yellow card against Ukraine (3-1), his team-mates were unable to get up. Offensive, the turbo-charged trio Timo Werner, Leroy Sane and Serge Gnabry were mostly suspended in the air. Just a shot from the crossbar by Gnabry ensured a strong moment for the DFB team. The only one.