In this international break bulletin, we selected five matches from the UEFA Nations League, AFCON Qualifiers, and UEFA Women’s Champions League that caught our attention, and shared our predictions along with detailed analysis.
Germany vs Greece
Match Analysis
After Germany suffered a major disappointment by being eliminated by Paraguay on penalties in the Round of 32 at the World Cup, Julian Nagelsmann’s tenure came to an end and the Jürgen Klopp era officially began. The legendary coach, who had been away from the touchline for quite some time, is now overseeing a major rebuilding process with Germany.
Klopp is effectively reassessing Germany’s entire player pool with 44 players, two separate squads, and 16 uncapped players. In a way, he is testing from scratch just how deep Germany’s actual player pool really is. For Germany, the Nations League currently looks less like a conventional international camp and more like one enormous selection camp.
Klopp has stated that rather than complaining about Germany’s absences, they are focusing on the players currently available and want to develop those selected into a group capable of competing at the highest level over the next two or three years. His first test came against the Netherlands.
Although Germany missed out on all three points after conceding to Cody Gakpo in the 90+2nd minute in a difficult away match against the Netherlands, we can still say that they made a good start. We also saw that Klopp intends to implement his trademark pressing system with the German national team. One of the most talked-about moments of the match came when Klopp waved his hand and the entire team immediately began pressing. It is also worth remembering that Germany missed several clear chances. Karim Adeyemi in particular, despite making an excellent start at FC Barcelona, left everyone stunned with the opportunities he failed to convert.
There is significant sporting pressure around Germany after three consecutive early World Cup eliminations. However, Klopp already appears to have minimized some of that pressure through his influence, as the atmosphere in camp is extremely positive. The only real concern is the injuries to Jamal Musiala and Kai Havertz. But as mentioned earlier, Germany have enormous squad depth. We are talking about an incredibly broad group that includes 16 newly capped players eager to prove themselves. They should be able to compensate for the absence of these two stars with minimal damage.
Things are also going well for Greece, who are improving as a result of the younger generation introduced during their rebuilding process. We all know the classic Greece: an ageing team that struggled to create and mostly relied on defensive football. Under Ivan Jovanović, however, that has started to change significantly.
With a new generation featuring players such as Konstantinos Karetsas, Christos Tzolis, Christos Mouzakitis, Konstantinos Tzolakis, and Giannis Konstantelias, the team’s style of play is also becoming much more productive. This newly built core has created considerable optimism within Greek football.
Greece want to establish themselves in Nations League A for the first time. In their first League A match, they fell behind against Serbia but refused to give up and came from behind to win 2–1, one of the clearest signs of how much they have changed. Their away match against a Germany side with far superior quality will be the first serious test of this new structure.
After missing out on victory in the final moments of his first match away to the Netherlands, Klopp will do whatever is necessary to secure his first win. Especially if “Klopp Pressing” becomes even more evident in this match, Greece are unlikely to withstand a victory-hungry Klopp and his Germany side away from home. It is also worth emphasizing again that Greece are gradually moving away from their old, extremely rigid defensive structure and becoming a more ambitious team that wants to produce goals. In this particular away match against Germany, that could become their biggest disadvantage.
Prediction
Home Win
Spain vs Croatia
Match Analysis
Spain continue to move forward at full speed. In their first match after winning the World Cup, they defeated England 3–2 away from home and made an ambitious start to the Nations League as well. Luis de la Fuente, who extended his contract until 2032 after the World Cup triumph, once again proved why that confidence was placed in him. His team are now unbeaten in 39 matches.
With the influence of the FC Barcelona players in particular, the Spanish national team do not simply play like a team, they almost look like a family. At times, La Roja barely allow their opponents to touch the ball, almost playing with them psychologically. They look extremely confident, consistent, and happy. This has also allowed the core of the squad to remain intact for a long time. And that is exactly why they have become so difficult to stop.
The only real uncertainty for Spain is at center forward. Ferran Torres’ noticeable decline in finishing this season was also evident against England. However, Mikel Oyarzabal, who consistently produces a completely different level of performance for the national team, quickly compensated for that weakness. When we also consider the incredible productivity of Spain’s midfield, they appear capable of continuing without experiencing any serious problems at center forward.
The injuries to Pedro Porro and Eric García, combined with Marc Cucurella’s difficult adaptation period since joining Real Madrid and his generally unconvincing performances, create some concerns for Spain defensively. However, with their dominant midfield and attacking line controlling matches, they should be able to minimize the impact of those weaknesses.
Croatia, meanwhile, underperformed at the World Cup and were eliminated by Portugal in the Round of 32, bringing Zlatko Dalić’s nine-year tenure to an end. Slaven Bilić, a unique character known for his energetic presence on the touchline and memorable quotes, has returned to take charge of the national team after 14 years.
Croatia are going through a controlled rebuilding process, essentially a soft transition. Bilić continues to keep experienced core players such as Luka Modrić, Mateo Kovačić, Ivan Perišić, Andrej Kramarić, Ante Budimir, and Dominik Livaković in the squad while, so to speak, sprinkling the new generation around them. Their away victory against Czechia suggested that this process is progressing positively. However, as Modrić himself pointed out after the Czechia match, Croatia lost their compact structure after the score became 1–1 and the game turned completely chaotic. Spain will not forgive mistakes like that. Not at all.
Croatia still possess very high player quality, and Bilić’s arrival appears to have brought positive energy to the team, but this is not yet a fully established Bilić side. They are also going through a transition and rebuilding process, even if it is a gradual one. They will therefore enter the match against Spain with several significant disadvantages.
Spain will play in front of their own supporters for the first time since winning the World Cup, and they will also wear their two-star shirt, representing their two world titles, in front of their home crowd for the first time. They will want to defeat Croatia and enjoy a memorable evening together with their supporters.
Prediction
Home Win
San Marino vs Albania
Match Analysis
Albania have entered a controlled reset under Rolando Maran following Sylvinho’s departure. The absence of important attacking players from the Sylvinho era such as Armando Broja, Nedim Bajrami, and Jasir Asani from the current squad was particularly notable. Their attacking line is undergoing significant change. It is important to note, however, that core players such as Kristjan Asllani, Elseid Hysaj, Berat Djimsiti, Ardian Ismajli, and Ylber Ramadani remain in the squad. Therefore, this controlled change appears likely to be limited mainly to the attack rather than representing a complete reset of the entire team.
This change in attack had a positive effect on Albania. In their first match, they comfortably defeated Belarus 2–0 through goals from Asllani and Ernest Muçi. It is also worth mentioning that a Rey Manaj effort struck the post. Albania were particularly impressive in the second half and did not even allow their opponents a single shot on target.
We cannot say that Albania’s attacking problems have been completely solved based solely on their performance against Belarus. However, considering that they had failed to score a single goal in their previous three matches, it was a very positive development.
Not much has changed for San Marino, whose most recent victory came against Liechtenstein on November 18, 2024. They have lost 15 of their last 16 matches and continue to enter games simply hoping to avoid historic defeats. Unfortunately, they suffered another one recently, losing 7–0 at home to Finland.
Carrying the confidence gained from their victory over Belarus, Albania should comfortably defeat San Marino, one of the weakest national teams in the world, even away from home, and make it two wins from two in the Nations League.
Prediction
Away Win
Eritrea vs South Africa
Match Analysis
A new era has begun for South Africa following the departure of Hugo Broos, who had transformed the country back into one of Africa’s competitive national teams, with Pitso Mosimane taking over as his replacement. Mosimane has naturally called up some new players, but we cannot really describe this as a major rebuild or generational change. The core structure built by Broos remains intact. The main difference is that the team are now going through the process of adapting to Mosimane’s style of play.
South Africa made a strong start to Africa Cup of Nations qualifying by defeating Guinea, regarded as their main rivals in the group, 2–1. However, the adaptation process to Mosimane’s style that we just mentioned created some problems during the second half. Guinea grew into the game after the break and found an equalizer. Mosimane’s second-half substitutions, however, directly influenced the result and resolved this brief crisis. Substitute Yanela Mbuthuma assisted fellow substitute Samukele Kabini as South Africa secured a 2–1 victory.
Considering that the team have only been working with a new coach for a few weeks, these kinds of minor adaptation problems are natural. What matters is that the brief crisis against a difficult opponent like Guinea was solved directly through Mosimane’s interventions. It is also worth remembering that South Africa managed to defeat Guinea despite several players who featured for them at the recent World Cup being unavailable through injury.
Having gained both an advantage in the group and a significant morale boost with the victory over Guinea, South Africa should strengthen their position further by defeating a very weak Eritrea side.
Prediction
Away Win
SL Benfica (W) vs Bayern Munich (W)
Match Analysis
Portugal’s strongest women’s club have made a flying start to the season. Benfica began the campaign with a trophy after comfortably defeating FC Porto 5–1 in the Supertaça Feminina, and they have also won both of their Campeonato Nacional Feminino matches, scoring five goals without conceding.
Since Benfica already dominate Portuguese football, their real test came in the UEFA Women’s Champions League. They produced an impressive 2–1 victory in a very difficult away match against Juventus FC, showing that they intend to be serious competitors in Europe this season as well. That result was particularly important because they collected only two points in Europe last season.
Benfica did not approach the Juventus match with a “score one and defend with everyone” mentality. They played exactly the way Ivan Baptista wants, trying to control possession and create goalscoring opportunities. Even during periods when they surrendered control of the game, they remained resilient defensively. The fact that Juventus did not score until the 86th minute was further evidence of how well Benfica performed at both ends of the pitch.
Ivan Baptista has raised expectations by saying that Benfica want to play more than six matches in Europe this season. It will be very interesting to see whether his side can produce another surprise against a Bayern team with an extremely strong squad and ambitions of reaching the final.
Bayern, one of the best women’s clubs in the world, have started the season very well by dominating the Bundesliga exactly as expected. They have won all five of their league matches, scoring 18 goals in the process. Today, they also progressed to the next round of the DFB-Pokal with a 2–1 away victory over Borussia Mönchengladbach.
Despite going through an extremely busy and difficult schedule, Bayern’s attacking line is in excellent form. Scoring five goals against a 1. FC Köln side that had won its previous three Bundesliga matches without conceding was another clear demonstration of that. One of the main reasons behind this excellent form is that the goalscoring burden does not fall solely on Pernille Harder, with the entire attacking unit contributing to the scoreline.
Although Bayern have been excellent going forward, there have been some concerning defensive developments recently. They have conceded seven goals across their last four matches. Most notably, in a difficult UEFA Women’s Champions League fixture against Manchester City, a competition in which Bayern have major ambitions, they surrendered a 2–0 lead and eventually had to settle for a point after conceding twice. It is also worth mentioning that Bayern goalkeeper Ena Mahmutović saved a penalty in that match.
The absence of Magdalena Eriksson and Lena Oberdorf suffering another injury can be considered the main factors behind Bayern’s defensive problems. Both players will also be missed in this difficult match against Benfica.
Bayern will naturally enter the away match against Benfica as favorites because of their superior squad quality. However, Benfica have made an excellent start to the season, including that difficult victory away to Juventus, and could score one or more goals against a Bayern side that have been experiencing serious defensive problems recently. It is also worth remembering that this match will be played at the Estádio da Luz rather than Benfica’s smaller women’s football ground. The level of support from the Portuguese crowd could have a significant impact on the match. We could be in for an entertaining, high-scoring game.
Prediction
Over 2.5 Goals