Nations League: Musiala and Wirtz conjure up magic against Hungary

Germany put on a gala performance at the start of the Nations League: Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz in particular performed magic against a completely overwhelmed Hungary.

In the 5-0 (1-0) win on Saturday evening in Düsseldorf, Niclas Füllkrug scored in the 27th minute to give the enthusiastic DFB team the lead. After the break, Musiala (58th), Wirtz (66th), substitute Aleksandar Pavlovic (77th) and Kai Havertz (81st) increased the score to a level that was entirely appropriate given the overall performance.

Musiala praises the teamwork

National coach Julian Nagelsmann was pleased in an ARD interview: “The main task was to continue to carry the energy of our fans with us, and we did that very well. We had a lot of chances and were very dominant.”

“The first half was very good, but we could have had a bigger lead“, said captain Joshua Kimmich to the sports show. “It was a very nice game at the end. Together with the fans, we lit a fire.”

Musiala saw it similarly: “We took the euphoria from the European Championships with us very well. The teamwork was really good, we all played well together and we still want to keep scoring after the third or fourth goal.”

Tah with the first exclamation mark

At the beginning, however, it was still noticeable that the German team had to find its way back to its automatisms without Toni Kroos in the control center.

The first offensive exclamation mark was made by a defender in the 8th minute: Jonathan Tah headed dangerously into the right corner after a corner by Pascal Groß, Dominik Szoboszlai cleared for the already beaten Peter Gulacsi just before the line.

Two brilliant combinations

The Hungarians, for their part, also kept on making pinpricks, but in the last line Tah and the new number one Marc-André ter Stegen radiated the greatest possible calm. After a quarter of an hour, the game became much more fluid going forward. Nico Schlotterbeck maneuvered the Hungarian defense line with a long pass, Florian Wirtz and Jamal Musiala served the ball perfectly to Niclas Füllkrug, whose finish was comparatively pathetic (19th).

Eight minutes later, he did better, although the challenge was no longer as great: Wirtz and Musiala had again done an outstanding job of preparing the way, and Füllkrug only had to push the ball into the empty goal from five meters.

Havertz misses two huge chances

The Hungarians then surprisingly retreated even further and were barely able to relieve the pressure. The DFB team could have added to their lead, twice in fact: In the 33rd minute, a header from Kai Havertz, after a precise cross from Groß, hit the underside of the crossbar and just in front of the goal line. This scene was met with appreciative and encouraging applause from Julian Nagelsmann, but shortly before half-time he was rightly angry: Set free by the outstanding Musiala, Havertz left Martón Dardai behind with a feint in the penalty area and had a completely clear shot – but he quickly became arrogant and flicked the ball two metres to the left of the goal from a great distance.

It was noticeable that the new offensive formation with Havertz in the slightly hanging position behind Füllkrug worked very well. Havertz used the freedom to play as a number ten and as a second striker excellently, but his finishing could have been improved.

Andrich with a very important tackle

In the second half, the Hungarians tried to get back into the game and certainly had their chances. The best chance in the 55th minute almost brought the equalizer, but Robert Andrich saved with a magnificent tackle against Bendegúz Bolla in the six-yard box.

Instead of hitting the Germans again on the other side. Wirtz played a dream pass deep to Musiala, who got stuck for a moment on his solo run, only to then regain possession of the ball – and coolly scored to make it 2-0 (58′).

Wirtz puts the lid on it

The revenge of this congenial duo came eight minutes later: Wirtz played a one-two with Musiala and finished flat and hard to make it 3-0. At this point, at the latest, the Hungarians had lost their game – after that, their resistance noticeably weakened.

Things could have been much worse for Marco Rossi’s team, but Gulacsi first parried Joshua Kimmich’s full-volley shot in the 72nd minute and was then once again extremely lucky when Havertz’s follow-up shot hit the crossbar again.

Havertz scores after all

But the Arsenal star remained persistent and was rewarded for it in the end. First Pavlovic (77th) capitalized on Musiala’s next great pass, then Havertz (81st) won a penalty in a duel with Leipzig’s Willi Orbán, which he then converted himself.

The Germans will now play against the Netherlands in Amsterdam on Tuesday (September 10, 2024) (live ticker at sportschau.de). Hungary will play against Bosnia-Herzegovina at the same time.