Italy 1-1 Germany: Player ratings as wasteful visitors held to draw
By Tom Gott
A much-changed Italy had to hold on at times but secured a 1-1 draw with Germany in both sides' opening Nations League game.
Lorenzo Pellegrini tapped Gli Azzurri ahead midway through the second half, only for Joshua Kimmich to cancel his strike out almost immediately and secure his side a share of the spoils.
Roberto Mancini made 10 changes to the team that fell to Argentina and his side did look a little disjointed at times. Germany took advantage of that as they came out the gates hottest.
The first chance came through Serge Gnabry, whose solo run ended with a strong strike which was comfortably dealt with by Gianluigi Donnarumma.
The Bayern winger's movement was a real problem for Germany and his lay-off should have led to a goal from Leon Goretzka, but the midfielder skied his effort from the edge of the box.
Italy did have their odd moments of positivity in attack and came close to opening the scoring through Gianluca Scamacca shortly after the half-hour mark. The Sassuolo man took a snap shot from narrowly outside the area and watched it strike the outside of the post.
The final chance of the half came from Gnabry yet again. Some unreal passing in the Italy box resulted in a lay-off to the winger, but he couldn't keep the ball down and sent it ballooning high and wide.
The second 45 was a bit more end-to-end, but yet again the quality in front of goal left a lot to be desired.
Just as the game appeared to be petering out, Italy took the lead. Substitute Wilfried Gnonto whipped an excellent ball into the box and put it on a plate for Pellegrini, who could hardly miss from five yards out.
In response, Germany went down the other end and fired themselves level, with Kimmich thundering home from close range to set up an intriguing final 15 minutes.
Both teams pushed for a winner but ten changes in the final half an hour left the game feeling somewhat disjointed, and in the end, a draw seemed like a fair result.
Italy vs Germany player ratings
1. Italy (4-3-3)
GK: Gianluigi Donnarumma - 6/10 - Did well when called upon without needing to do anything spectacular.
RB: Alessandro Florenzi - 6/10 - Had fun up against Sane. Marshalled his wing with real intelligence, although he wasn't up to much going forwards.
CB: Francesco Acerbi - 6/10 - Noticeably lacked pace up against Werner but did well when he could get his hands on the Chelsea man.
CB: Alessandro Bastoni - 7/10 - Caught up too high once or twice but generally did his job well.
LB: Cristiano Biraghi - 4/10 - Battered by Gnabry in the first half. Couldn't keep up at the back and was very ineffective going forwards.
CM: Davide Frattesi - 7/10 - Got into some excellent positions but his final product needs work. Can be delighted with his international debut.
CM: Bryan Cristante - 5/10 - Couldn't keep control of the match. Overwhelmed by Germany's energy.
CM: Sandro Tonali - 7/10 - Made up for Cristante's poor showing. Some really intelligent work on the ball and nice and solid at the back.
RW: Matteo Politano - 5/10 - Didn't really get involved. Found space hard to come by in the German half.
ST: Gianluca Scamacca - 7/10 - A complete performance in every aspect apart from shooting. Dropped deep to link play up and did his best to drag his team back into the match.
LW: Lorenzo Pellegrini - 8/10 - A lovely double nutmeg on Kimmich and Goretzka in the first half showed the kind of mood he was in. Really impressive.
SUB: Wilfried Gnonto (65' for Politano) - 7/10 - Made the difference with an excellent cross for the opening goal.
SUB: Tommaso Pobega (81' for Tonali) - N/A
SUB: Federico Dimarco (81' for Biraghi) - N/A
SUB: Matteo Cancellieri (85' for Scamacca) - N/A
SUB: Samuele Ricci (85' for Frattesi) - N/A
2. Germany (4-2-3-1)
GK: Manuel Neuer - 6/10 - Very little to do aside from picking the ball out of the back of the net.
RB: Benjamin Henrichs - 6/10 - Involved in quite a lot. Clearly lacked fluidity with those around him but a decent shift nonetheless.
CB: Niklas Sule - 7/10 - Showed some nice pace to deny Italy on the counter.
CB: Antonio Rudiger - 7/10 - Impressed with his passing and enjoyed having to get a little physical up against Scamacca.
LB: Thilo Kehrer - 6/10 - Offered very little going forwards but was fairly nice at the back as he kept Politano quiet.
DM: Joshua Kimmich - 8/10 - Saw a lot of the ball as he dictated the tempo of the game. His energy kept Germany on the front foot.
DM: Leon Goretzka - 5/10 - Didn't offer much alongside his club team-mate. Sloppy finishing in front of goal didn't help his case either.
RM: Serge Gnabry - 7/10 - Some fantastic dribbling and even flashed a great eye for a pass as well. A nice performance.
AM: Thomas Muller - 5/10 - Surprisingly ineffective. Had the odd nice pass but didn't offer that nearly enough.
LM: Leroy Sane - 4/10 - So disappointing. Did nothing on the rare occasions he actually got the ball in dangerous positions.
ST: Timo Werner - 5/10 - Can't fault his work rate but his end product was a bit underwhelming.
SUB: Jamal Musiala (59' for Sane) - 6/10 - Some decent movement.
SUB: Jonas Hofmann (59' for Henrichs) - 6/10 - Involved in the equaliser not long after coming on.
SUB: Kai Havertz (70' for Muller) - 7/10 - Good strength and movement in the build-up to Kimmich's equaliser.
SUB: Ilkay Gundogan (70' for Goretzka) - 6/10 - Brought some energy in midfield.
SUB: David Raum (81' for Gnabry) - N/A