Jurgen Klopp's first night in charge of Germany ended with a draw against the Netherlands, leaving the new head coach encouraged by what he saw while fully aware that his team still have room to improve.
Germany looked on course to mark Klopp's highly anticipated international debut with a victory after Felix Nmecha opened the scoring in the 32nd minute. But the Netherlands responded deep into stoppage time, with Cody Gakpo producing a superb volley to earn his side a 1-1 draw.
The result offered Klopp plenty to reflect on, particularly after the Netherlands dominated the second half, but the former Liverpool manager remained positive about his team's performance ahead of Sunday's meeting with Greece.
Felix Nmecha's 32nd-minute strike put Germany on course for victory against their old rivals on Thursday, on Klopp's eagerly anticipated international debut in the Nations League.
However, two minutes into second-half stoppage time, Cody Gakpo – who played 79 games under Klopp for Liverpool, scoring 23 goals in that time – met Ruben van Bommel's outside-of-the-foot cross with a sumptuous volley to snatch a point for the Netherlands.
The Oranje, who were playing their first game under Barcelona great Xavi, utterly dominated the second half, racking up 2.61 expected goals to Germany's 0.24 xG after half-time.
Overall, the Netherlands posted an xG figure of 3.12 from 22 shots, compared to Germany's 1.5 from 10 attempts, while they also had four Opta-defined 'big chances', with Klopp's men having two.
It was the first time the Oranje had created 3.0 xG or greater in a match against a team inside the top 30 of FIFA's world rankings since June 2019, when they had 3.1 in a Nations League semi-final win over England.
Speaking to RTL after full-time, Klopp acknowledged there was plenty for his team to work on ahead of Sunday's matchup with Greece, but his initial assessment was still positive.
"There were lots of things that worked. I'm very satisfied with many individual performances, with the passion as well," he said.
"But we can play better football, for sure. I would have loved to win, but I can live with the point."
Asked if he was nervous ahead of the game, Klopp replied: "I stood there over 1,000 times, so it was quite natural."
A high-octane and at times bad-tempered affair saw the Netherlands have two goals disallowed, with the first – a Virgil van Dijk header that was chalked off for Brian Brobbey backing into Marc-Andre ter Stegen – proving contentious.
And Germany's goal also came with a hint of controversy as Klopp's side played on while Brobbey was down injured, with the Netherlands' players reacting furiously after Nmecha swept into the top-left corner.
Brobbey had to be substituted when the game restarted, and his exit came after Germany striker Kai Havertz also hobbled off, having been on the receiving end of a high tackle from Quinten Timber – the twin brother of his Arsenal team-mate Jurrien.
Germany also lost Jamal Musiala to a thigh issue during the warm-ups, and Klopp is now waiting for updates on both players.
"Unfortunately, this happened to Jamal before the game, then Kai also said he felt it. They are both having an MRI at the moment. I hope we get the diagnosis tonight," he said.
"Of course, it's not great now. I hope it's just nothing bad. The boys are probably out of our next game, but hopefully they'll be ready to play again quite quickly."