3️⃣ points as Netherlands beat Germany in Group C classic | OneFootball

Netherlands beat Germany 4-2 in Hamburg to keep their Euro 2020 qualification hopes alive.

A topsy-turvy game saw the home side take the lead, lose it in the second half, equalise late on, only to then watch as Donyell Malen and Gini Wijnaldum netted a close-range winners for the Dutch.

Here’s what we learned.

Still bite in the Orange

It took a while to get going but eventually this Germany vs Netherlands encounter had all the bite of a usual derby.

These two teams really dislike each other and that showed on the pitch here in Hamburg.

Although the early exchanges were somewhat nervy, it took Joshua Kimmich to get the ball rolling with a late, late challenge on Matthijs de Ligt on 30 minutes.

That opened the flood gates for a rash of bad challenges, including some argy bargy between all 22 players.

The quality may not have been the best – with mistakes aplenty from both teams – but this had some real bite and was a game you could rarely take your eyes off.

Worrying for Werner

In the Bundesliga he looks almost unplayable. On the international stage, it’s a very different matter.

Timo Werner has scored five times already this season domestically but once again here, for Germany, he looked out of his depth.

Pace will never be a problem for Werner but his link-up play with Marco Reus and Serge Gnabry was virtually non-existent.

On several occasions the RB Leipzig striker was on a totally different wavelength to his Borussia Dortmund colleague and spurned a number of golden opportunities on the break.

Are we saying he should be dropped? Certainly not. But how to get the most out of the Bundesliga’s most dangerous striker is something that Joachim Löw will have to think about.

What’s happened?

Admittedly it’s a tad early to make sweeping conclusions about who will win Euro 2020 at this point, but having watched tonight, does anyone really think either of these two sides will be lifting the trophy at Wembley next year?

It used to be a given that Germany would enter a tournament as one of the favourites, but this vintage? No chance. Leaving gaping chasm at the back and never making the most of a number of counter-attacking opportunities.

They look like what they are – a side in flux.

The Netherlands meanwhile are a team with the world’s best centre-back and a midfielder that Barcelona paid €65m for.

So why aren’t they very good in all aspects of the game? It’s difficult to say for sure, but on this evidence they really lacked fluency in their attacking transition – especially in the first half when Germany were way more solid at the back.

There’s still six games to go and a lot of football to be played, but it would be astonishing to see either of these sides win Euro 2020.

(You can bookmark that and remind me in June next year.)