Musiala and Havertz injury scares mar Klopp’s Germany debut draw
Germany opened the Jürgen Klopp era with a 1-1 Nations League draw against the Netherlands, but Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz emerged as fresh injury concerns ahead of the next international window.
Musiala and Havertz concerns for Germany
- Musiala was withdrawn from Germany’s intended starting line-up after reporting a muscular problem during the warm-up.
- Havertz lasted only 30 minutes before being forced off following a strong Quinton Timber challenge.
- Klopp also gave Yannick Engelhardt his senior debut and brought Serge Gnabry back into the side.
Germany denied late win after controversial opener
- Virgil van Dijk thought he had put the Netherlands ahead from Tijjani Reijnders’ corner, only for VAR to rule out the header. Brian Brobbey was judged to have blocked Marc-André ter Stegen.
- Germany took the lead in the 32nd minute while Brobbey was down injured. The Netherlands wanted the ball put out, but Joshua Kimmich released debutant Philipp Treu, whose move ended with Felix Nmecha scoring after an attempted pass towards Karim Adeyemi.
- Germany could have doubled the advantage when Nathaniel Brown created an opening for Adeyemi, now a Barcelona player after leaving Borussia Dortmund, but he missed an open target.
- The Dutch increased the pressure after Joey Veerman and debutant Mexx Meerdink entered. Meerdink missed from close range from a Denzel Dumfries delivery, then saw another effort stopped by ter Stegen.
- Ruben van Bommel produced the decisive late pass in stoppage time, setting up Cody Gakpo to level. The son of former Bayern Munich midfielder Mark van Bommel finished cleanly for 1-1.
The result leaves Germany and the Netherlands in Nations League A Group 2 with Greece and Serbia. Greece moved into the early lead after beating Serbia 2-1.
What happens next
Germany host group leaders Greece on September 27, when the Netherlands travel to Serbia. Germany will assess Musiala and Havertz before that round of fixtures.
