Germany had a chance to win the UEFA Nations League semifinal against Portugal but they failed.
More Thoughts On Germany’s Disappointing 2-1 Loss To Portugal And How You View It
Portugal
Portugal increased the depth of the team with their substitutions and they didn’t even need to bring on Rafael Leao. Portugal’s substitutions turned the tide immediately while Germany’s substitutions were burnt out for the final 30 minutes.
Portugal scored two goals in five minutes and won the match
Germany
The team lacked cohesion from the start, and by the time the team really started to consolidate, head coach Julian Nagelsmann made changes to his team and it didn’t work.
Bayern Munich players created the primary chances for Germany. Florian Wirtz and Nick Woltemade will need to step up quickly if Germany is to win this tough game and advance to the weekend’s final.
Referee
This isn’t a “the referee cost us the game” comment, but the refereeing was very poor. There were many poor decisions of deflections and fouls that even a young referee could have called correctly. UEFA needs to do better in marquee games, especially with the Club World Cup and World Cup coming up.
Half-time overview
Julian Nagelsmann’s 3-4-1 formation looked awkward at first, but then it started to prove beneficial. Portugal is great at closing down space and preventing open shots, but Germany was able to create four solid opportunities in the first half, including two shots from Leon Goretzka and a near penalty kick from Aleksandar Pavlovic