Basel (Switzerland) (AFP)

Germany, in reconstruction since the disaster of the World Cup-2018, continues to suffer against the best teams of the continent in the League of Nations: it conceded a new 1-1 draw on Sunday against Switzerland in Basel, three days after sharing points with Spain in Stuttgart (1-1).

Silvan Widmer responded in the second half (58th) for the "Nati" to a goal from Ilkay Gündogan early in the match (14th).

In six Nations League games since the creation of the competition, the Mannschaft, quadruple world champion, has still not won a single match.

In 2018-2019, she conceded two draws and two defeats against France and the Netherlands.

This draw against Switzerland leaves it in third position in Group 4 of League A, with two points, behind Spain (4 pts) and Ukraine (3 pts).

In his defense, the coach Joachim Löw had voluntarily given up on summoning this week the players of Bayern Munich and Leipzig who had played the Champions League in August, depriving himself in particular of his captain Manuel Neuer, his warrior of the midfielder Joshua Kimmich and the wisp of the Serge Gnabry attack.

These more than average results, however, risk reviving the debates on the recall of the thirty-year-old 2014 world champions ousted from the team by Joachim Löw in 2019: Thomas Müller, stronger than ever with Munich, Mats Hummels and Jérôme Boateng.

- The Swiss take up the challenge -

Despite his media release this week, to criticize UEFA for not allowing five substitutions in the Nations League, Löw had made only two changes from the starting XI who had conceded a draw against the Spain Thursday: Bernd Leno (Arsenal) replaced Kevin Trapp (Frankfurt) in goals as expected, and Matthias Ginter (Mönchengladbach) took over from Emre Can (Dortmund) in the three-way defense.

His Swiss counterpart Vladimir Petkovic, after the inaugural 2-1 defeat against Ukraine, had changed three players.

Germany got into the match better, imposing their physical intensity in the first quarter of an hour.

The reward quickly arrived, when Gündogan finely placed the ball from the 16-meter limit flush with the post of Yann Sommer (1-0, 14th), after a ball back from Matthias Ginter.

But the Swiss gradually took up the challenge, and came back to the game.

Haris Seferovic, in particular, had several opportunities to equalize, but either he did not frame his ball, or he stumbled on Arsenal goalkeeper Bernd Leno (12th, 24th), or he was blocked (35th) .

In the 44th minute, Granit Xhaka, attacking midfielder of Arsenal and the “Nati”, also forced his club goalkeeper to an aerial headline to deflect a long shot for a corner.

At the break, the statistics of possession, shots and passing were in favor of Switzerland, and a draw would have been well deserved.

Redoubling their efforts, the Swiss did not give up, and Silvan Widmer, the Basel player who was playing on his lawn, logically equalized in the 58th minute of a good recovery in the middle of the race which took Leno on the wrong foot (1-1).

The game remained balanced until the final whistle, with both teams providing themselves with dangerous situations.

But none could find the loophole to get the three points.

© 2020 AFP