Jürgen Klopp secured his first win as Germany head coach, beating Serbia 2-0 in the Nations League at the Allianz Arena. It came at the third attempt, following a draw with the Netherlands and a defeat by Greece in his opening two matches.
Florian Wirtz was the game’s outstanding performer. The Liverpool midfielder struck the post early in the first half after driving through Serbia’s defence, and Tom Bischof converted the rebound to open the scoring. Wirtz doubled Germany’s lead just after the hour, creating space for himself with a sharp first touch inside the box before finishing into the corner.
The goal made Wirtz the third-youngest player to reach 12 international goals for Germany, at 21 years and 37 days old. Only Edmund Conen, in 1935, and Lukas Podolski, in 2006, achieved the feat at a younger age.
It marks a return to form on the international stage for a player who has endured a difficult first season at Liverpool since his £116m move from Bayer Leverkusen last year. Wirtz has seven goals and 11 assists in 55 appearances for the club so far.
Klopp praised his display afterwards. “He was bursting with joy and worked incredibly hard,” he said. “Our style of play suits Flo Wirtz. I don’t even know what Flo has to do right to make everyone happy. Everyone in Liverpool should be happy today.”
Klopp made wholesale changes to the side beaten by Greece, naming a 40-man squad across Germany’s four fixtures in this international window. That rotation continued against Serbia, with several fringe players given an opportunity to impress.
Celtic midfielder Mika Baur was among them, becoming the 1,000th player to represent Germany’s men’s team when he was introduced as a 77th-minute substitute. Klopp praised the 22-year-old’s development since moving to Scottish football.
“We’ve really seen now that he’s a wonderful footballer,” he said. “To succeed there, in the Scottish Premiership, with his physical attributes and put himself through that, that’s really something special.”
The win ended Klopp’s wait for a first victory in international management. Asked how he intended to celebrate, he said: “I have no idea. I’ve never won a game as national team coach. Do we have any beer on the bus? There won’t be any celebrating, though. We’re all tired and need to recover.
