Player Ratings Poll: Germany 3 – 3 Italy (5-4 aggregate) in Nations League quarters

A whirlwind of a game that leaves one saying…well, onto the semis!

Germany vs. Italy had it all. The highs, the lows, the good, the bad. The laudatory. The derogatory.

It was a tale of two halves. It was the best of games, and then it was the worst of games.

How did it happen?

Taking a narrow 2-1 advantage from the first leg in Milan, the Germans made several intriguing lineup changes to welcome the Italians to Dortmund. Most notably, head coach Julian Nagelsmann deployed a third center-back, Borussia Dortmund’s own Nico Schlotterbeck, in what looked like it may have been a back three but shook out to be more of a back four, with left-footed defender Maximilian Mittelstädt firmly planted high up on the wing.

Mittelstädt gave Italy fits from this position and his opposite number, Bayern Munich’s Joshua Kimmich, did even more damage pulling the strings from a more reserved position on the right. A penalty, a quick corner, and then another cross for striker of the hour Tim Kleindienst (Gladbach)…the stage looked set for an annihilation.

But the Germans backed off in a big way in the second half, partly to run clock. If Nagelsmann’s super-subs turned the game around on Thursday in Milan, they had the opposite effect this time. The exit of Bayern’s Leon Goretzka and VfB Stuttgart’s Angelo Stiller around the hour mark shook up the German midfield and it never looked steady after that. And when the Germans had the opportunity to kill the game off on the counter, Kleindeinst to Pascal Groß proved not to be quite the connection of a young Mesut Özil to Thomas Müller, a la England 2010.

So it was that Italy nearly earned, then finally did earn a penalty and come all the way back to level terms, needing just one more goal to force extra time.

But then time did finally run out, leaving the Germans victors…who also have a fair few questions to ask of themselves.

Here’s how kicker rated the proceedings. Have your own say below the jump:

Player Ratings Poll (view results)

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