Germany ended their October International Break on a high note. Having now won both their games — against Luxembourg and Northern Ireland, the players can return to the regular club football in high spirits. Northern Ireland was not an easy opponent at all, constantly pushing Germany around and the latter found their footing for only very short periods of time. Despite that, they made it count with a goal from Nick Woltemade. The singular goal was enough to gain Germany much-needed three points.
Manager Julian Nagelsmann pointed to the difficulties in the game and lauded the team for their win. “It definitely wasn’t our nicest game,” he said, per @iMiaSanMia. “The stadium was extremely emotional, we had to work hard and go for the second, third and fourth ball, fight for every ball.”
Speaking on the poor refereeing, Nagelsmann decided to remain professional and stated that it was a tough job. “It was tough even for the referee to notice all details that were going on,” he said.
“In the end a set piece was decisive, we practice that a lot because it’s important. It was an ‘ugly’ win, but the most important thing is the 3 points,” he declared, laying emphasis on the win. “To be honest, the most important thing today was the result for the table.”
Further adding on the difficulties, he spoke on the difficulty in regaining possession. “It’s difficult to play a nice game here. The ball is in the air a lot, you have to fight and go for the duels,” he noted.
The German national team knew it would need to step up its efforts against Northern Ireland.
While not a powerhouse, the Northern Ireland squad was game and made life very tough during Germany’s 1-0 victory. It was not pretty and it was not likely the kind of dominant result that fans wanted to see, but it was a stiff test and one where the Germans could not afford to come out flat.
Intensity and focus were there, but execution was not. Regardless, it was a win for Germany. Let’s dive into the details. This is what we have on tap for this edition of the Bavarian Podcast Works — Postgame Show:
- A look at Bayern Munich’s starting XI — what worked, what didn’t, and where things might be headed.
- A rundown of the scoring and substitutions.
- Some takeaways on the match and where this leaves Germany heading into the final international break of 2025 during November.
