Germany held in Greece after VAR rules out Jonathan Burkardt strike

Germany remain third in their UEFA Nations League Group after a 0-0 draw with Greece in Thessaloniki on Sunday. The result means Jürgen Klopp ends the international break with one win, two draws and one defeat, heading into November's final Nations League clashes.

Greece 0-0 Germany

Germany survived an early scare in Thessaloniki when Jonas Urbig produced a strong save to keep out Ioannis Masouras’ header, but Jürgen Klopp’s side soon took control. Derry Scherhant and David Raum both tested Konstantinos Tzolakis, before Jonathan Burkardt thought he had opened the scoring after being teed up by Scherhant. However, following a VAR check, the goal was ruled out for a Tom Bischof handball in the build-up. Scherhant then flashed another effort narrowly wide shortly before the break.

Germany continued to push after the restart, although Greece threatened from a corner when former VfB Stuttgart defender Konstantinos Mavropanos headed into Urbig’s arms. Florian Wirtz then created a promising opening for Philipp Treu, but the Freiburg full-back opted to pass rather than shoot. Klopp turned to Nick Woltemade and Saïd El Mala from the bench as Germany continued their search for the breakthrough, but the Greek defence held firm and the visitors were forced to settle for a point.

As it happened!

0 - 0

(0 - 0)

Greece

FINAL

Germany

Nations League
Group A2 Group A2 Toumba Stadium, Thessaloniki

Full-time: Greece 0-0 Germany

It's all over in Thessaloniki! Despite playing well in patches and creating plenty of chances, Jürgen Klopp's Germany are forced to settle for a 0-0 draw. The determined hosts defended and battled resolutely, and they also missed a couple of useful opportunities themselves. Greece now share top spot with the Netherlands in Group 2, while the Germans remain third.

© Maja Hitij

Full-time

90'

+ 1

Three mins left

There will be three minutes of injury time at Toumba Stadium. Will we see a late goal from somewhere?

90'

Thiaw goes in the book

The Germany centre-back hauls down Kostoulas to stop a Greek counter-attack and receives a yellow.

90'

Yellow card

Malick Thiaw

88'

Substitution

Charalampos Kostoulas

Fotis Ioannidis

87'

Treu misses

A cross from the left is missed by Woltemade but instead falls to Treu - the defender gets it all wrong, unfortunately, and volleys over.

84'

Wirtz shoots over

Wirtz has space outside the box and aims an attempt towards goal, but Tzolakis is able watch it float harmlessly over the crossbar. The Greek fans will be relieved about that one.

83'

Substitution

Mika Baur

Derry Scherhant

83'

Substitution

Bambasé Conté

Tom Bischof

80'

Ten mins to go!

Right now this game is anybody's - a defensive error or moment of brilliance at either end could decide the match.

79'

Yellow card

Manolis Saliakas

78'

Substitution

Panagiotis Retsos

Konstantinos Mavropanos

78'

The Greeks sense an(other) upset

The Greeks have stepped up a gear in the last ten minutes and are now pushing for a goal that could well give them a second sensational victory in a row over Germany.

76'

Masouris should do better

Masouris ghosts in at the back of the box to meet a free-kick with his head, but he gets his timing wrong and the ball loops over the bar.

73'

Greece coach booked

Referee Turpin makes his way over to the sidelines to caution a visibly frustrated Jovanović.

73'

Yellow card

Ivan Jovanović

72'

Impressing defending by Greece

Germany continue to press and probe, but so far the Greek rearguard has stood firm, with ex-Stuttgart man Mavropanis in particularly commanding form.

68'

Substitution

Christos Mouzakitis

Dimitrios Kourbelis

66'

Yellow card

Philipp Treu

63'

Double sub by Klopp

Can El Mala or Woltemade provide the spark that Germany need?

63'

Substitution

Nick Woltemade

Jonathan Burkardt

63'

Substitution

Saïd El Mala

Lennart Karl

Scherhant danger snuffed out

Scherhant takes a pass neatly in his stride before being crowded out inside the penalty area. His eventual snapshot is unable to test Tzolakis.

© IMAGO/Bahho Kara

61'

Into the final third of the match...

...and the intensity has definitely gone up a notch!

56'

Missed opportunity for Treu

Excellent work by Wirtz results in a shooting chance for Freiburg's Treu, but he opts to pass it instead and the chance goes a-begging!

53'

Yellow card

Christos Zafeiris

51'

Urbig saves Mavropanos' header

Mavropanos climbs above his man to get his head on an inswinging corner, but his attempt lacks power and Urbig is able to hold onto the ball.

46'

Two half-time changes for Greece

Greece head coach Jovanović brings in Androutsos and Dortmund's Karetsas in an attempt to beef up his team's attacking options.

46'

Substitution

Konstantinos Karetsas

Vangelis Pavlidis

46'

Substitution

Thanasis Androutsos

Alexandros Kyziridis

46'

Back at it at Toumba Stadium!

The ball is rolling once again in this Nations League A encounter.

Kick-off!

Half-time: Greece 0-0 Germany

The half-time whistle goes, and it's all-square at the interval. Greece had arguably the best chance of the match in just the second minute, when a Masouris header was well saved by Urbig. Since then, the action has been mainly up the other end, where Scherhant and Wirtz have posed a constant danger to the Greek defence, and where Burkhardt had a goal chalked off for a handball in the build-up. Germany will doubtless look to turn the screw in the second half!

© Maja Hitij

Half-time

45'

+ 3

Burkardt goes close!

Burkardt stretches out a leg and tries to divert Wirtz's effort towards goal. Tzolakis briefly looks concerned, but the ball drifts wide.

45'

Four mins of added time

We're going to have four additional minutes in this first half in Thessaloniki.

43'

Scherhant shoots narrowly wide!

Another close one there, as Scherhant looks up and fires in a powerful attempt from outside the box that fizzes just wide!

Five mins to half-time

Can either of these teams snatch a breakthrough goal before the break?

© IMAGO/Bahho Kara

36'

Anton cautioned

Anton fouls Kourbelis and is consequently shown a yellow card by the ref.

36'

Yellow card

Waldemar Anton

Goal disallowed

Great work by Scherhant sets up Burkardt for what appears to be his first-ever goal for Germany, but after a VAR check, a handball by Bischoff is spotted in the build-up, and the scoreboard is reset to 0-0. A let-off for Greece!

© Maja Hitij

30'

Half an hour gone in Greece

Germany have had 75 percent of possession in the opening 30 minutes, but are yet to make a breakthrough.

25'

Tzolakis makes a vital stop from Raum!

Following a free-kick, Bischof lays the ball off to Raum. The on-rushing full-back thumps an effort low and hard, but Tzolakis is equal to it!

Scherhant denied!

Scherhant drives forward with purpose and tries to find the right-hand corner of the net, but Tzolakis does well to make the save.

© Maja Hitij

22'

Yellow card

Konstantinos Tsimikas

Burkardt can't get out the way

Wirtz aims a header towards goal from Karl's cross, and curiously it's his team-mate Burkardt who blocks it inadvertently, despite his attempts to evade the ball.

© Maja Hitij

19'

Germany gaining a foothold

The visitors are starting to spread the ball around nicely in an attempt to create opportunities down the wings. Good work by Pavlović results in Sherhant sending in an inviting cross, but Tzolakis collects fairly comfortably.

13'

Electric atmosphere

Every time Greece win possession or look to get the ball forward, the noise level rises impressively inside Toumba Stadium. The crowd is going to be like an extra man for the hosts tonight.

Wirtz's effort deflected over

A long period of German possession ends with Wirtz jinking his way into the box and forcing an attempt towards goal, but it's deflected and loops over the bar. Unlucky!

© IMAGO/Bahho Kara

3'

Scherhant has a go

The ball falls to Scherhant outside the box, but his curled effort is too close to Greek 'keeper Tzolakis.

2'

What a chance!

Greece come so close to opening the scoring early on! Tsimikas whips in a great cross for Masouras - captaining his country tonight - and his firm header is well saved by Urbig!

1'

And we're off!

Referee Turpin blows his whistle and this Nations League clash is underway!

Kick-off!

The anthems are playing...

...and we're just moments away from this one getting started.

© IMAGO/Bahho Kara

Ten mins till kick-off!

The atmosphere is building in Thessaloniki, where the players should emerge for the anthems soon!

Wirtz captain

With Serge Gnabry having returned to Bayern Munich, former Bayer Leverkusen star Florian Wirtz will skipper Germany tonight against Greece.

© IMAGO/Herbertz / Nico Herbertz

Play video

3:26

Watch: Lennart Karl lighting up the game

All smiles in the German camp...

...as kick-off approaches.

© IMAGO/Herbertz / Nico Herbertz

More on that Greece team

There are five players in the Greece line-up who will be familiar to fans of German football: Koulierakis (ex-Wolfsburg), Saliakas (formerly of St. Pauli) and Mavropanos (former Stuttgart defender), as well as Masouras and Pavlidis (both ex-Bochum).

© Alex Grimm

More on that Germany team

Jürgen Klopp has brought in three fresh faces in comparison with the side that defeated Serbia 2-0. Raum, Karl and Burkardt will start in place of Mittelstädt, Gnabry and Woltemade.

© IMAGO/Herbertz / Nico Herbertz

Starting line-up: Greece

Formation:4-4-2

88

Konstantinos Tzolakis

21

Kostas Tsimikas

3

Konstantinos Koulierakis

4

Konstantinos Mavropanos

2

Manolis Saliakas

23

Alexandros Kyziridis

20

Christos Zafeiris

6

Dimitrios Kourbelis

21

Ioannis Masouras

7

Fotis Ioannidis

14

Vangelis Pavlidis

Greece subs

Mandas, Vlachodimos, Kyriakopoulos, Michailidis, Retsos, Tsapras, Androutsos, Karetsas, Mouzakitis, Pelkas, Douvikas, Kostoulas

Starting line-up: Germany

Formation:4-3-3

40

Jonas Urbig

22

David Raum

12

Malick Thiaw

3

Waldemar Anton

29

Philipp Treu

7

Florian Wirtz

45

Aleksandar Pavlović

8

Tom Bischof

7

Derry Scherhant

9

Jonathan Burkardt

42

Lennart Karl

Germany subs

Atubolu, Dahmen, R. Baku, Jeltsch, Keidel, Mittelstädt, Baur, Conté, S. El Mala, Engelhardt, Janelt, Woltemade

Calm before the storm

There are now under two hours till kick-off, and all is quiet right now at Toumba Stadium. That will likely change soon, though, when the Greek supporters will turn the arena into a veritable cauldron of excitement.

© IMAGO/Jacek Prondzynski

Your starting XI

The above is who users of the Bundesliga App voted as their preferred starters for the clash in Greece.

© Bundesliga

Klopp's thoughts on the game

“We want to try to get a much better result here tomorrow than we did in the first game," the 59-year-old said on the eve of the match on Saturday. "We tried a lot of things in that game, some of them worked, but not enough to beat Greece. The match against Serbia already looked much better. More of that, and we’ll be a tougher opponent for Greece tomorrow.”

© IMAGO/Herbertz / Nico Herbertz

Play video

0:18

Watch: Does Pavlović have stinky boots?

The Bayern and Germany midfielder caused ripples of laughter at Germany's pre-match press conference after being asked a question about a viral video of him asking team-mate Tom Bischof to sniff his boots during training.

Pavlović on playing alongside Bischof and Wirtz

“It was a lot of fun to play alongside Tom and Flo [against Serbia]. You could see that we’re all good on the ball. Defensively we all worked hard and did well. It was a lot of fun.”

© IMAGO/Herbertz / Nico Herbertz

How much will Klopp rotate?

The 59-year-old was keeping his cards close to the chest: "If we’re being completely honest, every player in the camp would deserve to play. The atmosphere was fantastic and the quality in training was extremely high. We had two players for every position. So you’ll really have to wait until tomorrow [to find out who's playing].”

© SAKIS MITROLIDIS

Pavlović to start

The Bayern midfielder also took to the podium alongside Klopp at the press conference, which typically means that he will be in the starting line-up tomorrow. “I just told him before the press conference that he can’t talk his way out of the team now,” said Klopp.

© SAKIS MITROLIDIS

Urbig to remain in goal?

Klopp was non-committal on the subject of his starting goalkeeper at his pre-game press conference on Saturday evening, saying: "At the moment it looks like we won't be making a change. But who knows?"

© SAKIS MITROLIDIS

End of an era

The German Football Association (DFB) has confirmed that the team will wear their black jerseys in Greece on Sunday. First worn in Klopp's debut match against the Netherlands last week, this will be the last time Germany don a kit made by adidas, bringing to an end a 72-year partnership. Nike will become Germany's official kit supplier from January 2027 onwards.

© adidas Germany

The venue

The 28,000-capacity Toumba stadium will be the stage for Sunday's encounter, with approximately 1,400 German fans expected to make the trip to Thessaloniki.

© SAKIS MITROLIDIS

Departure for Greece

After holding their final training session before the game at 10.30am CEST on Saturday morning, the Germany squad headed to the nearby Nuremberg airport in the early afternoon for their approximately two-and-a-half hour flight to Thessaloniki. Klopp will have a press conference in the evening after arriving.

© IMAGO/Ardan Fuessmann

Random doping test

Germany's National Anti-Doping Agency made an unannounced visit to the team's headquarters in Herzogenaurach on Friday evening. Five squad members had to give a urine sample.

© IMAGO/Marc Schueler

Gnabry to return to Bayern

Having been the only Germany player to feature in all of their three fixtures so far this international break, Serge Gnabry will now return to Bayern Munich ahead of Germany's final fixture against Greece in Thessaloniki on Sunday.

© IMAGO/Fotostand / Schäfer

Second time lucky?

Germany's recent defeat to Greece was their first ever against them, having won seven and drawn three of the previous 10 games. With a new look squad and a win under their belts, can Germany get the win this time around?

© Alexander Hassenstein

Tzolis set to miss second Germany encounter

Arsenal winger Christos Tzolis was taken off just 18 minutes into Greece's draw with the Netherlands as a result of a thigh injury, and it looks as if he'll miss the return fixture against Jürgen Klopp's men.

© PEDJA MILOSAVLJEVIC

Greece impress again

The hosts played out a 2-2 draw with the Netherlands in their previous game. They led 2-0 at half-time and were denied the win by a last-minute Tijjani Reijnders goal.

© VASILIS SVARNIAS

Jonas Urbig on making his Germany debut

"From the first minute to the last, we dominated the opposition. Whenever we lost the ball, we immediately pressed them and won it back. For a goalkeeper, keeping a clean sheet is always something special, of course. Manu [Manuel Neuer] and Ulle [Sven Ulreich] both texted me before the game, they were happy that I'd make my national team debut and wished me good luck. I was happy about that."

© IMAGO/Bahho Kara

Tom Bischof on Germany's performance

"It's an indescribable feeling. The stadium was on fire today. It was simply fun. We were fully focused and could have scored a couple more goals. Then it would have been a bit easier for us, but I think we created a lot of chances and played a good game. I was incredibly happy with my goal, but my knees hurt from the slide."

© IMAGO/kolbert-press/Christian Kolbert

Klopp on that Serbia win

"We were outstanding without the ball, and with the ball we played wonderful football. That has to be our baseline. Whether we can always reproduce that remains to be seen. This game goes into my archive. It’s the next step in our development. We’re learning, after all. Learning under pressure."

© Alexander Hassenstein

Jürgen Klopp is off the mark!

Thursday night's convincing win over Serbia gave Klopp his first victory as Germany coach, with a brilliant performance to go with it. The likes of Derry Scherhant, Philipp Treu and Tom Bischof all impressed as a new-look Germany blew the visitors away, with Bischof and Florian Wirtz the scorers in a 2-0 win in Munich.

© IMAGO/Gerhard Schultheiß

Welcome!

Follow all of the live build-up and live action from Germany's UEFA Nations League clash with Greece in Thessaloniki on Sunday (kick-off: 8.45pm CEST).