Sane, Suele eye return to form as new-look Germany take on Spain

Germany host Spain on Thursday in the first international behind closed doors in the German FA’s history with head coach Joachim Loew set to name an experimental new-look side missing a cluster of Bayern Munich stars.

In normal times, a sell-out crowd of around 50,000 would be expected at Stuttgart’s Mercedes-Benz-Arena for a home international against Spain.

However, due to the coronavirus pandemic, Germany’s first international for nearly 10 months must be played behind closed doors.

The German FA’s request to allow a hand-picked crowd of 500 to watch the Nations League match was declined by European football’s governing body UEFA.

Germany will play eight internationals between now and November in a tight international schedule and Loew wants to manage his players workload ahead of next year’s postponed Euro 2020 finals.

“I feel an extreme sense of responsibility for the players,” admitted Germany’s 2014 World Cup-winning coach.

His new captain Toni Kroos emphasised the different levels of fitness within the squad, due to the blurred lines between where the previous season starts and the new one begins in Europe.

“Some of us have already been training for a month, some have come back from holidays chilled out - I am one of them - so we’ve all been thrown in together,” said the Real Madrid midfielder.

Loew has rested several Bayern stars including usual national captain Manuel Neuer, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka after they won the Champions League final 10 days ago in Lisbon.

In Neuer’s absence, and with Barcelona’s Marc-Andre ter Stegen recovering from knee surgery, either Frankfurt goalkeeper Kevin Trapp or Arsenal’s Bernd Leno will be between the posts.

Kroos will captain Germany and is set to partner Manchester City’s Ilkay Gundogan in central midfield.

Up front, new Bayern recruit Leroy Sane, who joined from Manchester City in July, could make his first international appearance since suffering a knee injury last August. He is likely to play alongside new Chelsea striker Timo Werner and Kai Havertz, who is tipped to join Frank Lampard’s Blues in the coming days. In defence, Robin Gosens is set to make his debut at left-back alongside a back-three with Paris Saint Germain’s Thilo Kehrer on the other flank. Both Sane and Niklas Suele are looking to rediscover top form after long-term knee injuries.

Three days after the Spain match, Germany play Switzerland in Basel, also behind closed doors.

“I think I’m at 80 percent”, Sane told the German FA website.

“Of course, the games and the rhythm are missing,” added Sane, who has played just a handful of minutes since tearing knee ligaments last August.

Bayern defender Suele, who suffered a similar injury last October, made his return in the knockout stages of the Champions League in Lisbon. The 24-year-old shone after replacing Jerome Boateng early in the Lisbon final in Bayern’s 1-0 win over PSG.

GARETH IN WALES’ SQUAD: Meanwhile, despite Gareth Bale’s club future remaining extremely uncertain, Wales coach Ryan Giggs has named the 31-year-old in his squad to play Finland and Bulgaria.

“He always turns up to camp fit and raring to go,” Giggs said of Bale after naming his squad.

Bale scored twice for Wales in their successful qualifying campaign for Euro 2020.

Elsewhere, the Netherlands, who reached the final of the inaugural Nations League before losing to Portugal, will be in action for the first time since the departure of coach Ronald Koeman when they host Poland in Amsterdam on Friday.

Koeman took over in early 2018 and helped revive the fortunes of a team who failed to qualify for Euro 2016 or the 2018 World Cup.

As well as leading the ‘Oranje’ to the Nations League final with notable wins over France, Germany and England, he helped them qualify for Euro 2020.

But Koeman has now taken over at Barcelona leaving Dwight Lodeweges to take interim charge of the team -- starring Virgil van Dijk and Frenkie de Jong -- who also play Italy at home next Monday.

Agence France-Presse