Petkovic announces change: many parallels between Switzerland and Germany – sport

In the second game of the Nations League campaign, the national soccer team can look forward to a duel of royal prestige.

In the 52nd game with four-time world champions Germany, Switzerland is on paper the less clear outsider than in previous encounters. She competes as No. 12 in FIFA against No. 15. Even if the all-time record is clearly in favor of the Germans (36: 9 wins), there are many parallels between the two teams before the second game of the Nations League on Sunday. in Basel (start at 8:45 pm).

When the results are secondary

The Germans had their weak phase in fall 2018 when they finished last in their Nations League group. Relegation in League B was avoided only thanks to the increase. After the match in Spain, Löw said: “Results are not the most important thing, I want developments.”

The Swiss have lost 4 of their last 9 games, including the loss in Ukraine. But like Löw, Petkovic always goes his way. He also wants to press against Germany. “But only a few teams can do it for 90 minutes,” says Petkovic. He demands more precision against Germany on the wings and in the air game.

The long list of absences

For both teams, this fall’s Nations League is a declared part of the preparation for the final of the European Championship next summer. In Basel, however, at least 50 percent of them will not compete the way they intend to do in the ME. The Swiss are missing the injured Xherdan Shaqiri, Fabian Schär, Denis Zakaria, Remo Freuler and Admir Mehmedi.

Germany dispenses with Champions League champs Manuel Neuer, Leon Goretzka, Serge Gnabry and Joshua Kimmich of Bayern Munich, as well as Lukas Klostermann and Marcel Halstenberg of Leipzig, who have also been involved in the Champions League for a long time. Also, Kai Havertz is not there for his transfer from Bayer Leverkusen to Chelsea.

Not in full power

Both the Germans and the Swiss lack the pace of competition. Both teams experienced a significant drop in performance in the last half hour because they ran out of strength. “I suppose there will be some changes,” says Petkovic. Without a doubt, his squad will be motivated: 15 of the 23 players in the current squad were or are under contract in the Bundesliga.

Löw loses 5 substitutions, Petkovic the VAR

The fact that the two coaches were a bit upset in Stuttgart and Lviv around the same time had less to do with the team’s performance and the outcome of the match. They were quite dissatisfied with Uefa. Löw complained that, unlike other international competitions and also the Bundesliga, in the Nations League only three instead of five substitutions are possible.

And Petkovic missed using VAR. As the first goal conceded, it was unclear whether a Ukrainian had been offside. A matter of millimeters that the referee could not verify.

Spectators are not allowed in the Nations League. St. Jakob-Park would have been sold out. As a result, the SFV loses revenues of around 2 million francs.

Possible configurations:

Schweiz: Sommer; Widmer, Elvedi, Akanji, Rodríguez, Benito; Embolo, Sow, Xhaka, Steffen; Seferovic.

Germany: Leno; Kehrer, Ginter, Rüdiger, Gosens; Kroos, Brandt, Gündogan, Draxler; Waldschmidt, Werner.