What Did We Learn From Jürgen Klopp’s First Game Back in Management?

After over two years away from the dugout, Jürgen Klopp returned to the touchline on Thursday as Germany boss. How did it go, and were there signs that he can revive Die Nationalelf?

For a long time, Jürgen Klopp insisted he may never return to football management.

The 59-year-old left Liverpool in May 2024 after admitting he was “running out of energy” following nine years at Anfield. After a break from the game altogether, he returned with Red Bull as its head of global soccer, overseeing the running of their various teams around the world.

The managerial bug can be infectious, though, and following Germany’s disappointing 2026 World Cup and the departure of Julian Nagelsmann, Klopp was asked to come to the rescue.

On Thursday, he took charge of his first game since May 2024 as Germany travelled to face old rivals the Netherlands in their 2026-27 UEFA Nations League opener.

Expectations were high. Klopp leading the German national team always felt like it would happen eventually, and there is optimism the former Mainz and Borussia Dortmund boss can have the same revolutionary impact he had at all three clubs he’s managed.

As mentioned, Germany had a poor World Cup this summer. They started by thrashing Curaçao 7-1, though they needed a late winner to overcome Ivory Coast after that, before losing 2-1 to Ecuador in their final group game.

That was not ideal preparation for a tough last-32 clash with Paraguay, and so it proved. Germany struggled with their opponents’ physical approach and were ultimately eliminated on penalties.

Klopp signed a four-year deal to take over from Nagelsmann, overseeing the Euro 2028 and 2030 World Cup campaigns. His primary challenge is the Nations League, though, and it was a big test first up.

Not only was he taking on the Netherlands in Amsterdam, complete with their own new gaffer in Xavi Hernández – also managing his first game since May 2024 after leaving Barcelona – but he was set to face three of his former Liverpool players. Virgil van Dijk, Ryan Gravenberch and Cody Gakpo all started for the Dutch, and one of them went on to deny his old boss a debut victory.

Klopp took the unusual step of naming a 44-man squad, with Augsburg goalkeeper Finn Dahmen the only player set to be present for all four Nations League games in this international window. One group of players will be available for the first two (vs Netherlands and Greece) and then others will join up for the last two (vs Serbia and Greece).

The move was met with general approval in Germany, allowing Klopp to look at many players, introduce new and exciting faces, and also protect players from too much football across the elongated international break.

That doesn’t entirely eradicate the risk of injury, though, and that was apparent when Jamal Musiala pulled up in the warm-up in Amsterdam. On top of that, Kai Havertz could only play the first half hour after being on the receiving end of a nasty challenge by Quinten Timber, the brother of Havertz’s Arsenal teammate Jurriën.

An early scare came from one of Klopp’s former charges, with Van Dijk converting a Tijjani Reijnders corner, only for the goal to be ruled out after a VAR check judged Brian Brobbey to have fouled Marc-André ter Stegen.

There was some familiarity in the first XI Klopp named as Germany manager. Joshua Kimmich was handed his 115th cap, taking him past Toni Kroos (114) and into seventh place outright.

There was also a new face in the side, with Freiburg right-back Philipp Treu earning his first cap, and he played a key role in the first goal of the Klopp era. Treu’s low cross into the Dutch box from the right was blocked by the sliding Jan Paul van Hecke, but the loose ball fell kindly for Felix Nmecha, who finished calmly. It was somewhat appropriate that a Dortmund player scored the first goal under Klopp, given the outstanding success he had with BVB between 2008 and 2015.

It wasn’t without some controversy. Brobbey was down hurt on the turf at the time and Germany played on while Dutch players were imploring them to kick it out. Ultimately, it was at the referee’s discretion and despite some disagreements between Denzel Dumfries and Kimmich, Klopp’s side were well within their rights to play on, and it was 1-0.

It was familiar shape from Klopp’s side. Havertz was the striker but dropped deep – indeed, Nadiem Amiri had a more advanced average position in the first 30 minutes – while the two full-backs got forward with regularity. The wide forwards, Karim Adeyemi and Kevin Schade, were the two most-advanced German players in that first half hour before Havertz was forced off.

Another new face, Younes Ebnoutalib, replaced Havertz, and if anything, Germany looked even better with the Eintracht Frankfurt man up top. It wasn’t entirely polished but there was energy, there was effort, and there was counter pressing so synonymous with Klopp.

After the game, Treu told RTL: “We wanted to press them from the front, put them under pressure, be difficult to play against and play with intensity.

“Towards the end, I think we were a little too passive – but, at the end of the day, the Netherlands are a well-drilled team. It’s not that easy.

“Everyone gave everything. We have to give everything for the country and play with pride – that’s exactly what we tried to do.”

Jürgen Klopp (background) celebrates during Netherlands vs Germany in the 2026-27 UEFA Nations League. Philipp Treu gets to his feet (foreground) – (Photo by ANP via Getty Images)

Klopp was his usual animated self on the touchline. His reaction in the 38th minute to Adeyemi’s glaring miss when presented an open goal after neat work down the left by Nathaniel Brown was surprisingly jovial, retreating to his staff with a disbelieving smirk.

It brought back memories of him laughing his head off on the touchline at Anfield in his first season there after Liverpool midfielder Lucas Leiva – not especially known for his goalscoring – dragged an ambitious shot well wide from distance in a Merseyside derby against Everton. Klopp seemed to be enjoying himself back in his natural habitat.

The Dutch dominated long periods of the second half, having 14 shots to Germany’s five and seven shots on target to zero, but the fact they were losing 1-0 was obviously a factor in that.

It was promising as far as Xavi was concerned that his team created so much. Their 3.18 expected goals (xG) was the first time they had recorded over 3.0 xG against a nation ranked inside FIFA’s top 30 since June 2019 (3.10 vs England).

That pressure eventually told in stoppage time when Serge Gnabry lost the ball by the touchline, allowing Ruben van Bommel the chance to race down the left wing before crossing for Gakpo to volley in at the far post.

It meant the game finished 1-1, which felt about right. Germany showed more energy and grit than they had in North America over the summer, but there was clearly still plenty of room for improvement.

“I am that long in the job that I know to develop a way of football you need more than two days,” Klopp said after the game. “We only scratched the surface, we have to go deeper. Everyone felt we are on a good way to building a proper group. From there we go.

“There were a lot of good signs, but we are in a results sport and I understand we should not draw the next 500 games or I should go back to [playing] padel.”

There were early signs of a Klopp team, though. Germany pressed aggressively, and there was a moment in the first half when he could be seen issuing instructions to his players from the touchline, then seemingly ordering a press, and every outfield player pushed up as one.

Germany made five high turnovers in the game, two of which ended with shots. That wasn’t really an area struggled in under Nagelsmann, though. At the World Cup, they recorded at least six high turnovers in each of their four games, though only against Ivory Coast (4) did they have more than one shot from a high turnover.

Again, game state was a major factor given the hosts were behind for around an hour, but Germany did not have much control of the game. They only had at least 55% of the ball in zones around their own penalty box and in wide areas.

This may have been the toughest game of Germany’s Nations League campaign, and by the end of this lengthy international break, Klopp will have overseen four games and used potentially 40+ players. Things will be clearer by then, but as starts go, this was fine (injuries aside).

Klopp is back, and his energy seems to have returned with him. If he can produce the same magic he has in each of his previous jobs, Germany will have every reason to be confident of an exciting future.

Enjoy this? Add Opta Analyst as a preferred source by clicking here.

Subscribe to our football newsletter to receive exclusive weekly content. You should also follow our social accounts over on X, Instagram, TikTok and Facebook.