Germany were not able to score with any of their 27 shots on goal as they were held to a 0-0 draw by Ukraine at the Max-Morlock-Stadion in Nuremberg, just 11 days before their opening EURO 2024 game against Scotland.
Germany began the game in positive fashion with some neat passages of play and several long-range efforts, but Ukraine still looked threatening on the counter attack with the pace of Mykhailo Mudryk.
Julian Nagelsmann rang the changes early in the second half and the substitutes looked promising for the home side, however it wasn't meant to be for Germany on the night as the Ukrainian defence stayed resolute and were able to keep the clean sheet against one of Europe's top teams.
The result will leave Nagelsmann with plenty to ponder as Germany prepare to face Greece in their final warm-up game before the European Championships, whilst Ukraine's head coach Serhiy Rebrov will no doubt be delighted with his side's performance on the night.
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Story of the Match
With Toni Kroos, Antonio Rüdiger, Nico Schlotterbeck and Niclas Füllkrug featuring in Saturday's Champions League final, which saw Real Madrid defeat Borussia Dortmund, all four players were unavailable for Germany tonight.
This meant Waldemar Anton, Maximilian Mittelstädt and Robert Andrich made their second, third and fourth appearances for Germany respectively.
As for Ukraine, they made five changes to the side that lost to Iceland in their last encounter at the end of March, with Everton's Vitaly Mykolenko missing out due to an ankle injury.
The home side started the game very brightly with Jamal Musiala and Florian Wirtz linking up brilliantly on the left-hand side, however it was the visitors who created the first chance three minutes into the game when Viktor Tsygankov fired his effort just wide of the mark after a quick counter attack lead by Mudryk.
The Germans then began to dictate the game and should have gone ahead in the 16th minute when Pascal Groß's cross found the head of an unmarked İlkay Gündoğan six-yards out, however the captain's header was directed straight at Anatoliy Trubin in the Ukraine goal. Gündoğan had the whole goal to aim for, and it would have been a certain goal if his header was a yard either side of the goalkeeper.
Nagelsmann would have been delighted with the football his side were playing in the opening half-hour of the game, having had eight shots and 76% of the possession, although most of those eight shots came from outside the penalty area and failed to test Trubin.
As much as Germany were the better team, Ukraine still looked threatening on the counter attack and they finished the half with a flurry.
Roman Yaremchuk forced Manuel Neuer, who was making his first appearance for Germany since December 2022, into two smart saves on the stroke of half-time, giving Rebrov plenty of optimism heading into the break.
Neither side were able to find the break-through in the first half, and as good as Germany were playing, they had nothing to show for it after the first 45 minutes.
Nagelsmann made two attacking changes at half-time which saw Deniz Undav and Chris Führich come on to replace Wirtz and Gündoğan, in the hope of changing Germany's fortunes in front of goal in the second-half.
In contrast, Rebrov sent the same 11 players out for the second-half following a promising end to the first.
The home side began the second-half with a series of crosses into the Ukraine box, but the visitors remained resolute and thwarted the German threat.
The two German substitutes then linked up in the 56th minute as Führich's driven cross fell to Undav on the edge of the box, however his powerful shot was blocked and cleared.
Nagelsmann made three more changes on the hour mark with Musiala, Kai Havertz and Johnathan Tah being replaced by Thomas Müller, Robin Koch and Maximilian Beier, with the latter almost scoring with his first touch in international football as his effort hit the underside of the crossbar.
Beier was instantly impactful coming off the bench, and just minutes later went close again as he forced a smart save out of Trubin who could only palm the ball out for a corner.
Germany were getting desperate and thought they had a case for a penalty in the 72nd minute after Müller appeared to be bundled over in the box from behind by Yukhym Konoplya, however the referee waived away their appeals, much to the frustration of the German players.
Beier once again found himself with a golden opportunity to put Germany ahead with 10 minutes to play, but like Gündoğan in the first half, the Hoffenheim striker couldn't find the target with his close-range header. He could easily have had a hat-trick having only been on the pitch for 20 minutes, but instead cut a frustrated figure.
Ukraine didn't offer much of an attacking threat in the second half, however thought they had won the game with just two minutes remaining after Neuer lost possession in the middle of the park and substitute Andriy Yarmoenko found himself through on goal with nobody around him. However, he was judged to have been offside in what was a very marginal call.
Germany are usually not a team who struggle in front of goal having scored 36 goals in their 10 EURO 2024 qualifying matches, but tonight just wasn't to be their night as Ukraine held onto what was a hard-fought 0-0 draw.
Ukraine will take plenty of confidence from the game having gone toe-to-toe with one of Europe's elite sides, whilst Germany will be scratching their heads as to how they didn't find the back of the net on the night.
Player of the Match - Maximilian Beier
Despite only coming on with half an hour left to play, Beier made an instant impact on his international debut as the German attack looked far more potent with him on the pitch.
He will be disappointed that he didn't find the back of the net having had several golden opportunities to score, however he linked up effectively with Undav in the final third throughout the second-half and had he been given more minutes tonight, he could well have got his name on the scoresheet.
Nagelsmann is yet to name his final 26-man squad for EURO 2024 but after that performance tonight, it looks as though Beier has given himself a fantastic opportunity of making the final squad, and he'll be hoping to get more minutes in Germany's final friendly against Greece on Friday to further impress the manager.
