Germany vs. Czech Republic

+++ Guten Tag! Welcome to DW’s buildup to and live coverage of Germany’s international friendly against the Czech Republic on Wednesday evening. Kick-off in Leipzig is at 20:45 CET +++

Fixture pile-up

The games just keep coming and coming and coming. Just one month after the last international break, Germany return to action for another triple-header. On Saturday, they face Ukraine in the Nations League before wrapping up that campaign away at Spain on Tuesday. First, however, they face the Czech Republic in a friendly in Leipzig.

The state of play

With only one win in the Nations League so far – and, indeed, ever – Germany are second in Group 4 going into the final two games. One reason for that is their habit for conceding equalizers, especially late ones, as they did against both Spain and Switzerland (twice). They did hang on to beat Ukraine though.

They also let a lead slip three times in the last friendly against Turkey in Cologne, so that’s something that Joachim Löw will be keen to avoid in Leipzig. But the head coach has rightly pointed out that it’s difficult to be over-critical of the players in the unprecedented circumstances brought about by the pandemic.

– Read more: Club, country and coronavirus: Joachim Löw warns about the added strain on players

Löw’s warning

“There are reasons why injuries happen,” he said, referring in particular to Joshua Kimmich’s self-inflicted knee-injury against Borussia Dortmund. “The players at the top clubs are playing every three days without breaks. If we as coaches don’t act with the greatest of caution, we’re all going to have big problems in summer. Huge problems.

“Those who draw up the calendar need to put their heads together in future because, at the moment, the players are carrying the burden.

“Health takes priority.”

Squad rotation

Which is why he sees the friendly against the Czech Republic as a chance to rotate and experiment.

In Philipp Max (PSV Einhoven), Felix Uduokhai (Augsburg) and Ridle Baku (Wolfsburg), Löw has called up three international debutants who are all likely to feature in Leipzig. As if proving Löw’s point, Robin Gosens and Benkamin Henrichs are also out injured while Borussia Dortmund captain Marco Reus is also given a rest.

“Marco has come back from a long injury layoff,” he said. “He needs stability and should use these two weeks to work at his club. Hopefully it will do him good, because we all know what he’s capable of.”

Familiar faces

The Czech squad features some familiar faces from the Bundesliga, including goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka (Werder Bremen) and striker Vladimir Darida (Hertha Berlin). Bayer Leverkusen striker Patrik Schick is currently out injured.

Possible Germany line-up:

Trapp – Baku, Tah, Koch, Rüdiger, Max – Gündogan, Neuhaus, Hofmann, Brandt – Waldschmidt 

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/germany-vs-czech-republic-live/a-55560468?maca=en-rss-en-sports-1027-xml-atom