The parallels between David and Goliath

In the 52nd match with Germany, four times world champions, Switzerland is less of a stranger than in previous matches. Before the Basel game, both teams have many parallels.

As the second Nations League game approached Sunday (8:45 PM), the Germans had a much shorter road to go. For them, the journey from Stuttgart, where the DFB played Spain on Thursday (1-1), to Basel was a stone’s throw away. The two cities are not even 200 km apart in a straight line. Then the Swiss had another trip. They played Ukraine on Thursday in Lviv (1: 2), outside the EU zone, behind the Carpathians and three hours by plane.

But with the differences in preparation, the comparison between Switzerland and Germany before the match in Basel, match 52, is almost the same. Because the situation of the two teams in these days and months shows an astonishing number of parallels. From the turmoil after the 2018 World Cup to the long list of absences from these September international games (for different reasons, of course) to the two coaches who made their way from Swiss amateur football and were so upset on Thursday about things that they weren’t from his own staff. to affect.

Agitation and absences

But one after another. Two years ago, a new era slowly began in the German national team. Little by little, Löw abandoned the best dogs like Mats Hummels, Jérôme Boateng or Thomas Müller. In Switzerland, it was the generation of Valon Behrami, Blerim Dzemaili and Stephan Lichtsteiner that was replaced. With one it was faster, with the other a little slower. In Switzerland, Behrami’s departure was not without disagreements, with the Germans resounding the withdrawal of Bayern professionals.

But Petkovic and Löw always went their way. The robberies were not absent. The Germans had their weakest phase in autumn 2018 with last place in their Nations League group (only thanks to the increase was relegation to League B avoided), the Swiss struggled with a moderate performance in qualifying for the European Championship on goal. They have lost four of their last nine games, including the loss in Ukraine.

Switzerland – Germany

Sun 06.09.2019 20:00 – 23:15 | SRF two

CH 2020 | 195 min

For both teams, this fall’s Nations League is a declared part of preparation for next summer’s European Championship finals. 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, as well as Lukas Klostermann and Marcel Halstenberg from 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.

Löw nominated a seven-player team against Spain that had yet to make 30 appearances on the national team. In Switzerland, it was similar in Ukraine: 9 of the 14 players had played 25 international matches or less. In the end, the night was disappointing for both nations. The Germans conceded the tie in the last second in the home game against Spain, the Swiss lost 2-1 in Ukraine. In the last half hour, both teams showed a sharp decline in performance due to lack of strength without pace of competition.

Problems with UEFA

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 unhappy 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 the use of VAR, since now it is also part of the normality. As the first goal conceded, it was unclear whether a Ukrainian was offside. A matter of millimeters that the referee could not control.

So there are parallels everywhere between Switzerland and Germany. This cannot be a bad omen for Switzerland. This time she is probably more on par with the four-time world champion than in previous matches. In absolute terms, this means: Compete as number 12 in FIFA against number 15. In comparison, the record of the 112 years of combined international history. The Germans lead with 36: 9 victories.