Nations League: Seven things to look out for in the opening round from Germany vs France to England vs Spain

The first international break of the season is never particularly welcome, but this one comes with the twist of a new, convoluted competition which might help alleviate the boredom

Uefa’s new Nations League begins on Thursday with Germany vs France and Wales vs Republic of Ireland among the opening night’s games, while England host Spain at Wembley on Saturday night.

The first international break of the season is never particularly welcome, barging its way into the calendar just as we were getting into the swing of the new domestic season. However this one comes with the twist of a new, quite complicated competition to hopefully help alleviate the boredom.

Here are a few things to look out for in the opening round of games:

1) A tournament to embrace?

Let’s be honest, you don’t fully understand the Nations League. Neither do I. It’s a strange format which seems unnecessarily convoluted, and has an incongruous theme tune which seems to be lifted from Legend of Zelda. Above all it’s something new, and no one – especially the regular football fan – likes change.

But maybe Uefa’s latest thought-cloud is worth embracing, not least because it would need to be exceptionally abysmal to leave fans pining for the often painful international breaks of old. Back then how often did major nations meet? During World Cup 2018 qualification, Germany were drawn in the same section as San Marino and France were drawn with Luxembourg; here San Marino and Luxembourg are in the same group while France vs Germany is the League A curtain-raiser, the start of a mouth-watering group with Holland. We might not be able to untangle every permutation, but any attempt to minimise meaningless friendlies and lopsided qualifiers is a welcome one.

2) The collision of two heavyweights

Germany vs France might just be the most interesting encounter of the whole tournament, a collision of the two most successful European nations in football history, who have only met five times before in competition.

They are the two most recent World Cup winners and yet they arrive in Munich via very different roads. France are basking in the glow of their summer success and with such a young squad at his disposal, Didier Deschamps brings much the same group into the new campaign. Meanwhile Joachim Low is under scrutiny following Germany’s woeful group-stage exit in Russia and he has understandably rang the changes, with Manchester City’s Leroy Sane among those recalled.

Leroy Sane is back in the Germany setup (AFP/Getty Images)

“We now have to find the right mix between experienced and young, dynamic, hungry players,” Low said. “We have important tasks ahead of us in the Nations League. With a good mix of experience and youth, we will get this ‘right now’ feeling back.”

3) England seek to retain Russian glow

England have their own warm glow still flickering from their exploits in Russia, but that could quickly be snuffed out in what is a tough group alongside a new-look Spain side and the beaten World Cup finalists, Croatia.

Spain are starting afresh under Luis Enrique and following the retirements of Gerard Pique, David Silva and Andres Iniesta. The new manager has quickly taken a hard line on selection, cutting the average age and omitting Jordi Alba over their differences while at Barcelona – only two Barca players have made the cut – while Atletico Madrid’s Koke has made way for Real Madrid’s uncapped Dani Ceballos.

Gareth Southgate speaking to the media this week (Reuters) (REUTERS)

“It’s a very special day for those that are on the list and I have nothing to say regarding those who are not,” Luis Enrique said this week. “I haven’t spoken to any player, that is my style. I didn’t think it was necessary to speak to any player.”

Southgate has continued with his softer touch, electing to keep faith with much the same group who went far in Russia. He has been careful to manage growing expectations since the World Cup, and is well aware that England came up a little short once they faced the technical quality of Belgium and Croatia.

Southgate has stressed throughout his tenure the importance of England testing themselves against top-level opposition, the kind they might meet in a World Cup semi-final, and that is exactly the challenge the Nations League presents. Relegation to League B awaits the bottom side, and you suspect England’s objective is simply to stay up.

4) The cloud of Keane

One of the most intriguing ties of the competition’s opening night is Wales vs Republic of Ireland in Cardiff. Both are desperate to kick on with Wales having missed out on World Cup qualification after losing to Ireland, before the Irish were thrashed in the play-offs by Denmark.

Ryan Giggs will make his competitive managerial bow against Martin O’Neill but it is Giggs’ former Manchester United teammate Roy Keane who has grabbed the headlines this week. The Ireland assistant manager has fallen out with Cardiff’s Harry Arter, forcing the midfielder to withdraw from the squad.

O’Neill was surprisingly philosophical about the incident, considering he has lost an important component of his squad, but must be frustrated. “I know it’s the old cliched phrase to say these things, but these things happen,” said O’Neill. “I have been involved almost five years here and I’ve had one or two scrapes with one or two players myself who are bigger and stronger than me. I was looking round for a little bit of help from my backroom staff and it wasn’t forthcoming. That’s when you realise how unpopular you are.”

5) Denmark in crisis

Denmark are the other side in League B Group 4 with Wales and Ireland, and they are mired in a far deeper crisis of their own. Senior Danish players including Christian Eriksen have refused to sign a new agreement with the country’s FA in a messy dispute over commercial rights. It means Denmark could be forced to field an amalgamation of lower league players and futsal stars for their opening match against Wales in order to avoid Uefa sanctions for failing to fulfil their scheduled fixtures.

Christian Eriksen could miss Denmark's opening Nations League game (PA)

“We again offer a temporary extension of the old agreement – and then we travel to Slovakia today,” Eriksen said in a statement on Tuesday. “All in all, the whole national team, together we enter the agreement and together we save the face of Danish football. We are right here and want to play football for Denmark – as always. We have to solve this conflict now, not just digging the ditches deeper. So we’re happy to extend our hand again... let’s renew the old deal by one month.”

6) The Balkan triumvirate

League A has some potential blockbusters and League B carries plenty of interest, but if that’s all a bit mainstream for your taste then League C might be your thing: the hipster’s choice. Within League C, Group 4 is the pick of the bunch with Romania, Serbia and Montenegro all pitched together in a Balkan triumvirate, alongside Lithuania.

Serbia are the standout team with quality throughout, from the captain Aleksandar Kolarov and a midfield of Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Dusan Tadic through to the squad’s top scorer Aleksandar Mitrovic, who has started the season in style for Fulham. Romania are on an upward trajectory under the stewardship of young coach Cosmin Contra, while Montenegro are a young emerging group.

Aleksandar Mitrovic will lead Serbia's forward line (Getty Images)

However, Montenegrin coach Ljubisa Tumbakovic is not quite so enthused. “The Nations League was very interesting at first because we had to fight teams with similar qualities for the big competition, but it’s not like that. This is a pilot project, which is more important to Uefa than it is to us. From the 15 teams from League C, only one goes to the finals. The third-placed national teams in regular qualifiers can’t go to the play-offs now – but we will enter this competition with a sporting motive.”

7) A sporting chance for Europe’s minnows

League D is where the minnows will fight it out. Kosovo, who have never won a competitive match, have been drawn with Malta, who have not won one for four years. Kosovo begin their campaign against the highest ranked nation in the league, Azerbaijan.

The Nations League does, in theory, hand the smallest nations a route to Euro 2020: the four group winners within League D will go into a 16-team play-off in March 2020, although they will still need to win a semi-final and final to earn their tournament ticket. It is at least a chance for many of them to avoid regular thrashings and take on someone their own size.