Klopp said he was “pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed” by the performance at the Toumba Stadium on Sunday night. The scoreboard offered less comfort. Germany have taken only one point off Greece in two attempts, having lost 1-0 in Augsburg a week earlier, and now sit three points behind the top two with the group entering its decisive window.
Burkardt thought he had broken the deadlock when he turned the ball home midway through the first half. Referee Clément Turpin paused the restart for a VAR check, and replays showed Tom Bischof had controlled the move with his arm in the build-up. The goal was overturned and Germany have not scored against Greece in 180 minutes of this campaign.
Jonas Urbig had already kept Germany in the game inside two minutes, pushing away a Giorgos Masouras header from a Kostas Tsimikas cross. Konstantinos Tzolakis then saved a Derry Scherhant effort in the 23rd minute and a David Raum free kick two minutes later. The chances kept coming after the Burkardt let-off, but the finishing did not.
Klopp: ‘top-notch, except for the goals’
Klopp fronted up on the one number that mattered.
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“I’m very, very, very impressed with the team. If anything, I’m pleasantly surprised rather than disappointed,” he said after the match.
“The counter-pressing worked outstandingly well 90% of the time. During that other 10% when it doesn’t work, things can get a bit complicated.”
“Top-notch in every respect, except for the fact that we didn’t convert our chances into goals.”
The caveat is doing a lot of work. Klopp has one win in his first four competitive matches as Germany head coach: a 2-0 home victory over Serbia on 1 October through goals from Bischof and Florian Wirtz. The other three have produced one draw with the Netherlands, one defeat in Augsburg and now a stalemate in Thessaloniki.
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Netherlands move top as Germany slip further back
Elsewhere in Group A2, the Netherlands beat Serbia 2-1 to move level with Greece on eight points at the top. Germany are third on five, Serbia bottom on zero. Group winners progress to the Nations League quarter-finals in March; Portugal became the first team to seal a last-eight place on the same matchday after Gonçalo Ramos scored a 79th-minute winner against Norway.
Germany’s last two games fall in November. They travel to Serbia on the 13th and host the Netherlands at the Olympiastadion Berlin on the 16th. Anything less than six points will almost certainly leave them chasing the group winners rather than catching them. For a team that has reached the Nations League finals only once in four editions, missing out again would be another entry on an uncomfortable ledger.
Klopp signed a four-year contract in July after Julian Nagelsmann left the role in the aftermath of Germany’s exit to Paraguay at the 2026 World Cup. His first camp has produced plenty of possession and precious few goals. Burkardt will not want to see the replay of his handball.
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