Germany
Bernd Leno – 7/10
Leno had a good day in office. Not much came by his way in terms of saves, but he commanded his penalty area expertly during the Italian attacks (especially in a few periods during the second half)
Benedikt Howedes – 6/10
Howedes was caught flat-footed while tracking a couple of runs from Immobile, but overall, the Schalke veteran did enough to merit a starting berth and keep his reputation intact.
Shkodran Mustafi – 8/10
He was the best, most consistent defender on the pitch all night long, as he dealt with everything thrown his way by the Italian forward line. Mustafi did not lose his composure for even one move.
Mats Hummels – 7/10
Hummels was taken off after half-time, and the defender was conspicuous by his absence from the pitch as Italy upped the ante in the second half. Hummels put in a decent shift while he was on the pitch, making no mistakes of note.
Joshua Kimmich – 6/10
Kimmich was lively in attack and acted as Germany’s attacking hub on the right wing, putting in many good crosses. On the defensive end, however, he was left rather exposed as Italy’s front three played narrowly and Darmian on the overlap drew him out of position.
Sebastian Rudy – 6/10
Like most of his teammates, Rudy played better in the first half than in the second period. His passing was top-notch, but the Italian midfield overran his defensive covering later on in the game.
Julian Weigl – 6/10
Weigl began the game in lively fashion, but his performance faded significantly after the break. He was brought off for Mario Gotze with around 20 minutes remaining.
Yannick Gerhardt – 6/10
Unlike Kimmich on the other flank, Gerhardt was quite circumspect when it came to taking the ball into the forward areas. Gerhardt was defensively solid, though.
Leon Goretzka – 7.5/10
Goretzka fired a few shots on goal in the first half and made his presence felt in the forward areas as Germany’s most enterprising attacker in the first half. He was taken off after an hour for Serge Gnabry.
Ilkay Gundogan – 7/10
Gundogan was a livewire and covered every blade of grass on the pitch yesterday. He was unable to continue his Man City goalscoring form, however, as the Italian defence kept him in check.
Thomas Muller – 5/10
Muller had a forgettable outing, never really finding his footing in the central areas. He was forced to drift out into the wide areas to get the ball, and not with much success at that either.
Substitutes
Kevin Volland – 6/10
Apart from the disallowed goal, Volland did not have many noteworthy moments in his 30 minutes on the pitch. He did apply himself to the task, however, and kept Italy’s defenders occupied with his running.
Jonathan Tah – 5/10
His lack of pace was apparent yesterday as he was beaten to a couple of 50-50 challenges. Tah did not look too comfortable against Italy’s front three.
Serge Gnabry – 5/10
Clearly, Italy were not as easy to play against as San Marino and the former Arsenal youngster struggled to make a mark on the game in 30 minutes.
