Gakpo denies Klopp perfect start as Xavi’s Netherlands rescue draw against Germany

At least Germany can be sure it will not be dull. Jürgen Klopp had predicted his debut as head coach could be wild, a trait he would accept as long as his team were lively enough. Both transpired in a frayed, pinball-like game whose lack of quality could be forgiven on account of its entertainment levels. The Netherlands more than merited a brilliant late equaliser from Cody Gakpo and by the time those present had drawn breath it felt appropriate that, for all the talk of new dawns, everyone finished back where they had started.

World domination is a far-off prospect for both of these flailing giants on such scrappy, frenetic evidence. But at least those with a stake in this famous old fixture, largely shorn of the spite and spit that defined it of old, could come away feeling something. Restoring those essential sensations of joy, pain and meaning sits at the very top of Klopp’s priorities. Germany looked raw and scattergun for long periods, reined in only by their lack of technical aptitude, but there were signs of an energy that had long been missing.

Nonetheless it was the more understated Xavi, making his own bow in charge of the hosts, who could punch the air in added time after Gakpo volleyed in a wonderful outside-of-the-boot cross from the substitute Ruben van Bommel. It so happens that the 22-year-old Van Bommel is son of the 79-times capped Mark; his grandfather is the former Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk. An enthusiastic if largely toothless performance from Xavi’s crop was a reminder that the stardust of Van Bommel senior’s day is largely absent now; the equaliser’s conception, though, left lingering promise that the past can birth a brighter future.

“In a parallel world, if someone said you’d get a draw in Holland you’d take that,” Klopp said. “I feel we lost two points because of the time we conceded. But I’m fine with tonight, not more.” His approach to squad management across this four-game Nations League run had been to unveil a sprawling 44-player squad, a handful only passingly familiar even to some seasoned Bundesliga watchers, that would be split between assignments. His plans, and perhaps those of two club managers he must keep onside, were derailed by concerning injuries to Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz.

The former felt his thigh in the warm-up, Nadiem Amiri taking his place in the starting lineup; Havertz was similarly afflicted early on, departing on the half-hour, and the pair were due to have MRI scans before returning home. “I hope we get the diagnosis tonight, I hope it’s nothing serious,” said Klopp, who expected the pair to at least miss Sunday’s match against Greece.

His team had begun with the intensity demanded before riding their luck, Virgil van Dijk unfortunate not to put one over his old boss when his glancing header was ruled out for a soft foul by Brian Brobbey on Marc-André ter Stegen. The Netherlands were further aggrieved when, with Brobbey lying on the floor near halfway requiring treatment, Joshua Kimmich elected to play on and set in train the move that opened Klopp’s account. The debutant right-back Philipp Treu crossed for Karim Adeyemi to attempt a close-range shot and, from the rebound, Felix Nmecha swept in.

Van Dijk led impassioned home protests, which turned into scuffles between the sides on the far touchline, but no laws had been broken. Germany should have doubled their lead when Adeyemi spooned Nathaniel Brown’s pass horribly high, Klopp reduced to grim laughter at the side, but Xavi’s players took charge thereafter.

“The second half is the way we must play,” Xavi said. “We want to show this ambition, passion and desire.”

Ter Stegen, playing at his new Ajax home, frustrated his old Barcelona manager with commendable saves on numerous occasions while looking consistently jittery under set pieces. He should have finally been beaten when Max Meerdink, on for the stricken Brobbey, somehow diverted Denzel Dumfries’s centre wide from a matter of feet.

Germany were brisk but bereft of control in a scruffy but beguiling second period; much of that could be put down to their new broom but it will surely have irked Klopp that the substitute Serge Gnabry, one of his more experienced call-ups, had presented the ball carelessly to Van Bommel before the leveller.

“To develop a way of football you need more than two days,” Klopp said. “We only scratched the surface. We have to go deeper.” For better or worse, this taster was enough to promise a compelling ride ahead.

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