Ukraine 1-2 Germany: 5 talking points as Joachim Low's men scrape past Ukraine | UEFA Nations League 2020-2021

#3 George Buschan's blunder killed the game for the hosts

Leon Goretzka hands Buschan a helping hand

George Buschan undid his good work on the night with a horrendous error. He dropped an easy cross from Lukas Klostermann for Leon Goretzka to score early on in the second half. The Ukrainian goalkeeper was having a decent game till then as he made a handful of great saves to keep the hosts alive in the game. But all was undone as his error proved to be the difference between the two sides in the end.

Buschan made 10 saves throughout the course of the game. Some of them were really fantastic. Serge Gnabry almost had a goal to his name but Buschan somehow palmed it away to his disbelief.

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#4 Germany's five man back-line needs fixing

Ginter celebrates with his teammates after scoring a goal

Although Low's defensive line was solid for the majority of the game, they looked uncomfortable when Ukraine attacked them with more bodies. Niklas Sule gifted a penalty to the hosts as he failed to contain the attack and was beaten for pace by Roman Yaremchuk.

But their critical issue is not defending, it is their ability to attack. With two wing-backs and three center-backs, Germany should be creating a lot more from the flanks, but that was not the case. Klostermann and Marcel Halstenberg did not cause any immediate problem for Shevchenko's defenders. They failed to provide an outlet and stretch their play over the wings. They lacked vision and creativity.

💬 @MatzeGinter nach #UKRGER"Wir sind froh, dass wir gewonnen haben, das war wichtig. Wir wissen aber auch, dass wir nicht die Sterne vom Himmel gespielt haben. Wir hatten gerade in der ersten Halbzeit viele einfache Ballverluste."#DieMannschaft | #Stimmen pic.twitter.com/H9Cmq4ou5H

— Die Mannschaft (@DFB_Team) October 10, 2020

One could argue both the goals for Germany came through their defenders. But that is not completely true. The first goal was down to Rudiger's individual brilliance who set it up on a plate for Ginter to finish. Meanwhile, the second was down to an error from Buschan.

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#5. Germany lacked flare upfront

Julian Draxler was the only positive for Joachim Low upfront

With Leroy Sane out injured, Germany were already without their most lethal attacker. And to add to it, starting Serge Gnabry as a striker with Kai Havertz on the bench killed any element of surprise. The Germans were slow and quite predictable when they moved up the pitch.

Only Julian Draxler displayed some shades of skills for the visitors. The others looked lost for ideas and showed no urgency while attacking. This German side lacked pace for the entirety of the game. The players looked untidy as they misplaced many easy balls to lose possession. But they also looked out of energy to recover the lost balls. Low will have to shake up a lot of things up front to make them a feared force once again.