Jürgen Klopp faces early criticism after Germany loses 0-1 to Greece in Nations League

Defeat in Augsburg

Jürgen Klopp's first home fixture as Germany national team manager ended in a 0-1 defeat against Greece on Sunday evening in Augsburg. The decisive goal arrived when Dimitrios Kourbelis scored via a deflection off German captain Joshua Kimmich, following a misplaced pass in buildup play. The result followed a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Thursday, where the Dutch side recorded 3.18 expected goals. Following the final whistle against Greece, who did not qualify for the recent World Cup and sit 41st in the world rankings, spectators in the Augsburg arena whistled the team. Klopp intervened on the pitch, ordering his players toward the dressing room rather than allowing them to linger.

It is not as if we have to spend minutes apologizing and creating the impression that we did this on purpose today.

Squad rotation and Kimmich departure

The match concluded the international window for Klopp's first 22-player group, part of an evaluation model involving 44 players across four Nations League fixtures in 11 days. Kimmich departed the squad on Monday to return to Munich rather than joining the second group gathering in Herzogenaurach. The 31-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder has missed only three of 37 international matches under previous coach Julian Nagelsmann and remains 34 caps short of Lothar Matthäus's record of 150 appearances. A fully fit Kimmich missing national team fixtures had not occurred since his senior debut in 2016 against Slovakia.

I would have liked to stay, but I also understand that the coach wants to get to know other guys.

Pundit reactions and tactical debates

The decision to send the captain home drew commentary from former German internationals. In a column for Sky, 65-year-old Lothar Matthäus agreed with testing two distinct squads but argued that Kimmich should have stayed for all four matches as the central leader for the incoming newcomers. In a column for t-online.de, 58-year-old Stefan Effenberg argued that Germany lacked solutions against deep-lying opponents and warned that Klopp cannot purchase solutions for 100 million euros as he did in club management.

Welcome to reality. And this reality can no longer be denied or sugarcoated by anyone: Germany is no longer a top nation, but merely a follower in world football.

Upcoming fixtures in the Nations League

Klopp took responsibility for the defeat, stating that he expected development to take time and rejecting comparisons with European champions Spain or finalists England. Having made five changes to his starting lineup between the Dutch and Greek fixtures, the 59-year-old coach will deploy his second 22-man roster for the next two games. Germany hosts Serbia in Munich on Thursday at 20:45 before traveling to Thessaloniki to face Greece again on Sunday evening.