"It's such a beautiful evening," Jurgen Klopp said after Germany beat Serbia 2-0 in Munich. The line did not stay on the result for long. Klopp was asked about Joshua Kimmich, who was not part of the matchday squad after playing against the Netherlands and Greece, and the press conference quickly turned into a selection argument.
Klopp's response to the Kimmich questions
"And without even mentioning it, you're trying to bring up a topic that isn't really a topic. And in the end, it'll be a Jo Kimmich story. You'll manage that, won't you? Pavlovic, Bischof, Wirtz, it worked brilliantly," Klopp said, quoted by dailymail.com. He added: "You can see that it's extremely difficult, not because I want to downplay or exaggerate a story or anything like that, but simply because you all want to create a story."
The point behind the irritation is obvious enough. Klopp has named two 22-man squads for Germany's four matches in this international break, and Kimmich was left out against Serbia after starting against the Netherlands and Greece. He watched from the stands and went down to the locker room afterwards to congratulate the team.
The midfield alternatives on show
The selection debate has a live football reason behind it. Against Serbia, Germany fielded Tom Bischof, Aleksandar Pavlovic and Florian Wirtz in midfield, and the three of them were part of a performance that Klopp clearly wanted to point to.
Bischof's Nations League rating was 8.2 in one appearance, while Pavlovic posted 7.2 and Wirtz 7.11 in the win over Serbia. Kimmich's own Nations League rating is 6.93 across two appearances, with 180 minutes played. Klopp also said Kimmich "made a great impression" and called him a "great captain", before explaining that Germany "had to" and "wanted to make a break."
Written by Jack Mercer with AI-assisted research, cross-checked against 4 outlets. How we work →
