German Women’s national team defeat France | Player ratings and tactical review | OneFootball

The companion piece to our GGFN German Women’s national team preview article arrives! Bundestrainer Christian Wück’s DFB-Frauen – in their first action since the semi-final exit at this summer’s Women’s European Championship – were able to successfully take their first Women’s Nations League semi-final leg against against France. A Klara Bühl firecracker proved the difference in a 1-0 victory in Düsseldorf. 

Our full coverage of the match includes a detailed report, player ratings, the GGFN Player of the Match, and a tactical breakdown of all that was witnessed. The German women seek to secure their berth in the Final with a win on Tuesday evening in Caen. Kickoff for the return leg is scheduled for 21:10 CET.

A furious opening phase

The DFB attack – spearheaded by surprise starter Nicole Anyomi – generated two quality chances within the first couple of minutes. Wück’s team found plenty of joy on the right-hand-side with Giulia Gwinn and Carlotta Wamser combining well on the approach. Wamser and Anyomi both produced shots on target during this electrifying opening phase. Franziska Kett also came close to drawing a penalty with sleek incursion into the box.

Matters calmed down significantly after the first ten minutes, however, and the German hosts weren’t able to manage much beyond a couple of wide efforts from Klara Bühl. The French grew into the game as matters became more evenly balanced. DFB keeper Stina Johannes made her first quality save in the 22nd on Delphine Cascarino. Kathrin Hendrich did well to clear the rebound away from a lurking Kadidiatou Diani.

Fouls and interruptions kill the flow

Steadily enough, matters petered out in front of both goals. Matters got very physical after the 20-minute-mark and there were several long injury timeouts. Neither side advanced much beyond the halfway line and both teams appeared content to head into the tunnel deadlocked at 0-0. A plethora of fouls, surprisingly enough, produced no bookings. The French and Germans largely looked to avoid injuries in a match not well officiated.

Germany wake up near the hour-mark

Germany’s Sjoeke Nüsken took an elbow to the face shortly after the restart and there was yet another prolonged injury break. Not much happened at either end until a wonderful headed effort from Nüsken (hustling hard from the deep) went just wide in the 55th. Anyomi and Gwinn were both involved in the sharply-played lead up. Anyomi unfortunately wasted a precision pass from Kett in the 57th, shooting over from close range.

One could nevertheless sense that a goal was near. Germany continued to break forward after Selina Cerci and Lea Schüller came on for Anyomi and Gwinn in the 60th. Bühl and Cerci both saw efforts blocked before Nüsken nearly pulled off a sensational finish off the turn in the 69th. The tactical switch brought on by the double substitution at the hour mark gave France more space on the counter.

Johannes saves, Bühl decides

Johannes stood tall against Cascarino in the 67th and French substitute Melvine Malard in the 73rd. Shortly before Germany’s next set of substitutes was due to check in with ten minutes remaining, Bühl scored the game’s lone goal in the 79th. Some goal it was! Bühl cut inside from the left and fired home from outside the box. French keeper Pauline Peyraud-Magnin stood no chance against the rocket from 18 meters out.

Buoyed by the opening goal, the DFB-Mädels proceeded to dominate the rest of the game. Cerci, Kett, and Brand all had chances as normal time drew to a close. Wück then ordered everyone back to protect the slender lead through seven minutes of injury time. France never came close to equalizing. The Germans earned a deserved standing ovation from the nearly 40,000 in attendance.

Germany Player Ratings

Stina Johannes (7) – Franziska Kett (7), Camilla Küver (7), Kathrin Hendrich (6), Giulia Gwinn (6)  – Sjoeke Nüsken (8), Elisa Senß (6), – Klara Bühl (8), Jule Brand (7), Carlotta Wamser (5)  – Nicole Anyomi (5)

Substitutes:  Lea Schüller (5), Celina Cerci (6), Sydney Lohmann  (-), Cora Zicai (-), Alara Sehitler  (-)

GGFN Player of the Match: Sjoeke Nüsken (8)

An exceedingly tough call here as Bühl’s super-strike ultimately secured the victory and there wouldn’t have been a victory without crucial saves from Johannes. Kett and debutant Camilla Küver also managed to deliver consistently strong performances throughout and Brand thrived in several different positional assignments. In the end, the honor goes to Nüsken.

The Chelsea Ladies star played her heart out even after taking the early second-half knock and produced by far the most creative chances. The new DFB leadership figure – as the German broadcast team must have mentioned a thousand times – isn’t currently starting for her WSL club. That surely played a role in this lionhearted display. The 24-year-old never took her foot off the gas pedal.

DFB Tactics Check

Hmm…surprisingly complex. Did the DFB-XI line up in the projected 4-2-3-1? Sort of. Early approach play ran through a clear 4-2-3-1 system and Wück’s crew definitely endeavored to keep the shape off the ball. Perhaps due to the fact that the Bundestrainer didn’t want to put too much pressure on Brand, however, one only witnessed this straightforward 4-2-3-1 at times during the opening 45.

Lineup—Germany—(4-2-3-1)

For the most part, the 4-1-4-1 shown below was the order of the day. One certainly didn’t see a 4-2-3-1 at all during the second half, strongly suggesting that Wück drilled the Mâdels more in the latter system and opted to ditch the old set of tactics outright after the restart. The difference between the two wasn’t all that demanding as Nüsken was always the more offensive-minded of the midfield pairing with Elisa Senß and often-times functioned as an eight during the Euros.

Lineup—Germany—(4-1-4-1)

Matters got very interesting when Gwinn exited alongside Anyomi in the 60th. Seeing as how two strikers (Schüller and Cerci came on) who would serve as right-back? The answer – insofar as the author could tell at least – was no one. A 3-2-4-1 formation took shape. Nice little late-match “push” system, though Wück probably had no reason to alert the scouting world to it in this particular match.

Lineup—Germany—60th minute

The French had no trouble exploiting this one early and often. We could easily be discussing a different result here. Bühl’s 1-0 had nothing at all to do with tactics. One strong argument in favor of this concerns the fact that – with Cora Zicai (for Bühl) and Sydney Lohmann (for Nüsken) freshening things up, things really got moving. Zicai and Lohmann picked up enough quality touches that the author very nearly opted to give both a grade. 

Overall, fairly impressive stuff from most everyone. 

One carries positive vibes into the next fixture. 

GGFN | Peter Weis