By Ben Higlett and Dan Reuben
With the Bundesliga on hold, attentions have turned once more to Die Mannschaft. Germany began their Euro 2020 Qualification campaign with a much-changed side following Joachim Löw’s decision to sideline Thomas Müller, Matts Hümmels and Jerome Boateng. After a disappointing friendly draw with Serbia in midweek, goals from Sane, Gnabry and a late winner from Schulz helped Germany to clinch a narrow 3-2 win against the Netherlands in Amsterdam. Löw will hope that securing a win over their fierce rivals, the Oranje, alleviates some of the pressure on his shoulders after his side’s wretched 2018. Catch the highlights here.
Three men were arrested after Germany’s 1-1 draw in their friendly against Serbia after allegations of racial abuse directed towards Leroy Sane and Ilkay Gündogan during the match. Journalist André Voigt uploaded a video to Facebook in which he told of how three people sitting behind him at the game repeatedly racially abused Sane and Gündogan before going further and even shouting “Heil Hitler”. The response from the DFB has been criticised by many, with the comments by Reinhard Grindel particularly being condemned for not being harsh enough. Grindel said afterwards that “we need to show anyone who does this the red card”. Meanwhile, Leon Goretzka spoke passionately on the issue in the post-match press conference, saying that the video horrified him.