Too late for Italy as Germany march on to semis on aggregate

A stirring second-half fightback was not enough for Italy as they drew 3-3 with Germany in the second leg of their Nations League quarter-final tie, going out 5-4 on aggregate.

An awful first-half showing saw Italy 3-0 down at the interval, with Joshua Kimmich and Tim Kleindienst scoring either side of a bizarre Jamal Musiala strike.

Musiala tapped into an empty net from a clever Kimmich corner after 36 minutes, with Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma not watching the ball as he berated his defenders.

Moise Kean’s brace got Italy back within two goals on aggregate, then a late Giacomo Raspadori penalty made for a tense finale, but Germany clung on.

Germany started much stronger than the two teams but was restricted for half an hour until Alessandro Buongiorno’s foul on Kleindienst inside the area resulted in a penalty.

Kimmich found the bottom-left corner from 12 yards, and it was a piece of quick thinking from the Germany captain – combined with a bizarre lapse from Donnarumma – that soon saw the hosts double their lead.

Donnarumma tipped a Kleindienst header over, then lost all concentration as he berated his defenders while Kimmich retrieved the ball for the corner. With no Italy players alert, Kimmich quickly played the kick into an empty six-yard box, where Musiala turned home.

Kimmich had another assist on the stroke of half-time, supplying a delicate cross for Kleindienst, whose header crept over the line despite the best efforts of Donnarumma.

Luciano Spalletti introduced Matteo Politano and Davide Frattesi at half-time, and Italy instantly improved, with Kean lashing into the bottom-left corner to reduce the arrears.

With Germany’s intensity dropping, the Fiorentina striker got his second with a wonderful curled finish in the 69th minute, bringing Italy back to 5-3 on aggregate.

Italy had one penalty – awarded for Nico Schlotterbeck’s lunge on Giovanni Di Lorenzo – overruled following a VAR review, but they did get a spot-kick when Maximilian Mittelstadt handled from a corner in stoppage time.

Raspadori converted emphatically, but Italy did not have time to carve out one last chance to force extra time.

Moved from his favored midfield role to fill in at right-back, Kimmich produced an outstanding first-half performance with a goal and two assists.

It is just the second time he has achieved that feat for Germany, on his 99th senior outing for his country – he previously did so against San Marino in June 2017.

The Bayern Munich man has now been directly involved in each of Germany’s last five goals (one goal, four assists), almost single-handedly deciding this tie.

As for Italy, a dismal start cost them. The Italians conceded three first-half goals for the first time since June 2009, when they were 3-0 down at the interval against Brazil in the Confederations Cup.

They recovered to draw from three goals down for the first time in their history, but it is Germany that moved on to the semi-finals in June.