Red Lions suffer third consecutive defeat

An astonishing 2,500 Luxembourgish fans made the short trip to Sinsheim, Germany, to watch the Red Lions slump to a  4-0 loss on Friday
 
Germany started strongly and thought they had taken the lead after four minutes, but the linesman ruled out Serge Gnabry’s deflected effort for handball after it glanced off Nick Woltemade’s arm. Instead, David Raum opened the scoring less than ten minutes later with a precise free kick over the wall and past Anthony Moris.

After the opening ten minutes, the hosts were firmly in control, creating chance after chance to extend their lead. Their breakthrough came in the 21st minute, when Dirk Carlson was sent off after a video assistant review, following what many considered a questionable penalty decision.

Captain Joshua Kimmich converted the penalty with ease to double Germany’s lead, and Die Mannschaft never looked back. They stifled Luxembourg’s attack with composed, patient possession, and although their attacking waves ebbed and flowed, they remained in complete control throughout the 90 minutes.
 
A rapid-fire start to the second half saw the favourites score twice in the space of six minutes after the break to remove any doubts about the winners of this game. An hour after his disallowed goal, Gnabry managed to get on the scoresheet just before Kimmich made it a brace for himself on 50 minutes.
 
A rapid-fire start to the second half saw the favourites score twice in the space of six minutes after the break, removing any doubts about the winner of the game. An hour after his disallowed goal, Gnabry managed to get on the scoresheet just before Kimmich made it a brace for himself on 50 minutes.

The lack of attacking impetus cost Luxembourg dearly in the remainder of the match, as they struggled to create chances even when the opponents reduced the pressure at times. A solitary, hopeless effort from Aiman Dardari remained the only shot the Red Lions managed across the entire game, not even testing Oliver Baumann.

In Danel Sinani’s absence, most of the creative work fell on Leandro Barreiro, who had a busy day in midfield, and on the two wing-backs, Florian Bohnert and Laurent Jans, who struggled to contain their German counterparts throughout the game. Bohnert was taken off at half-time for Eric Veiga, whose crucial mistake led to the third goal soon after.

Following Carlson’s suspension, the defensive shape often resembled a 5-4-0, without a clear plan for advancing past the opponents, leading to a complete loss of control from Luxembourg.

A 16% possession rate is among the lowest recorded by any European team in the entire qualifying campaign. Whenever the defenders intercepted a pass or made a successful challenge, there was no momentum, and any potential counter-attack quickly broke down.

Lacking progressive options, Jeff Strasser focused on keeping the team compact and organised at the back, which worked for the last 40 minutes without conceding. After an incredibly grim start, Luxembourg managed to limit the damage in the end and avoid a heavy defeat — the bare minimum expected from the team beforehand.

Germany away was always going to be the toughest of all challenges awaiting Luxembourg in this qualifying group, and even a draw here would have been miraculous. The result hurts, and the lack of attacking threat is worrying, but some defeats are inevitable.

What matters now is that the dressing room leaves this Friday night behind and moves on to the Slovakia game on Monday. That will be another difficult match-up for the Grand Duchy, but a display similar to the previous head-to-head encounter in September could yet yield a positive result.

With Sinani back, there is reason for optimism again — even when the picture looks as bleak as it does now.