Xavi largely stuck with the setup his predecessor Ronald Koeman favoured, tweaking just one spot in the XI. Quinten Timber, on loan at Crystal Palace after his Feyenoord days, slotted into midfield alongside Ryan Gravenberch and Tijjani Reijnders.

A Fast Start and a Contentious Call
Germany came out firing, putting the hosts on the back foot early.

Yet it was the Dutch who thought they'd broken through first, in the 12th minute, when Virgil van Dijk headed home from a Reijnders corner. The celebration was short-lived, though, as Spanish official Hernandez Hernandez chalked it off, ruling that Brian Brobbey had fouled German goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen in the buildup.

Oranje kept the pressure on after that, but Klopp's men found their breakthrough in the 32nd minute instead.

Play continued through a Brobbey injury, with the striker waving for a substitution as the move unfolded. Captain Joshua Kimmich slipped the ball out to Phillip Treu on the flank, whose low delivery was flicked goalward by Karim Adeyemi via backheel. Jan-Paul van Hecke got a block in, but Felix Nmecha pounced on the rebound to hand Klopp's reign an opening goal.



Germany nearly doubled their lead moments later. Nathaniel Brown blazed past Van Dijk with sheer speed and squared it for Adeyemi, who had the simplest of finishes into an open net, only to blast it well over the bar.

Missed Chances Pile Up .