On Thursday night (1/10, 20:45 CEST), Germany walk out at the Allianz Arena with one mission: beat Serbia. After the draw with the Netherlands and the defeat to Greece, Jürgen Klopp’s side have just one point from two Nations League games — and the injury shock of Nico Schlotterbeck in the final training session has made an Oktoberfest night in Munich feel even heavier. For Aleksandar Pavlović, the game carries extra meaning: the first time the Munich-born Bayern midfielder faces his father’s homeland at senior international level.

Group A2: Germany must win

The Group A2 picture after two matchdays leaves Klopp little room for calculation: Greece 6 points, Netherlands 4, Germany 1, Serbia 0. The top two reach the quarter-finals, on the road to the Final Four in June 2027 — meaning Germany almost certainly need to win both remaining games of this international window, starting with Serbia, then away to Greece in Thessaloniki on 4/10.

After the Greece defeat, Klopp delivered a memorable line: “Lieber ein schlechter Start als ein schlechtes Ende” — better a bad start than a bad ending. Bastian Schweinsteiger was blunter on ARD: “Wir sind keine Topmannschaft mehr. Wir sind im Mittelmaß angekommen” — we are no longer a top team, we have arrived at mediocrity.

And a Sportschau statistic piles on the pressure: no Germany head coach has ever gone winless through his first three games. Fail to beat Serbia — a draw wouldn’t be enough — and Klopp sets a record nobody wants.

Team news: the Schlotterbeck shock, Urbig’s debut night

The worst news came from the final training session at Herzogenaurach on the morning of 30/9: Nico Schlotterbeck twisted his ankle in a warm-up game at the start of the session — with no contact from any player — and the afternoon MRI confirmed lateral ligament damage in his right ankle. The DFB announced the Dortmund centre-back will definitely miss both games, against Serbia (1/10) and Greece (4/10). He will still travel with the squad to Munich, but returns to Dortmund on Thursday.

Particularly cruel: it is a similar injury — but on the other leg — to the left-ankle ligament damage he suffered against Ivory Coast at the 2026 World Cup in the summer, which kept him out for 12 weeks and from which he only returned in mid-September. According to Bild, this one is less severe and needs no surgery, but the Bundesliga game against Werder Bremen on 9/10 is already at risk.

Klopp spoke about his player at the press conference on the afternoon of 30/9 at the Allianz Arena: “Nico ist einfach umgeknickt – ohne Gegner- oder Mitspieler-Einfluss. Das war einfach unglücklich” – Nico simply twisted his ankle, with no influence from an opponent or a team-mate, it was just unfortunate. He added that he had already spoken with Dortmund coach Niko Kovac, and: “Ich hoffe, dass es nicht so lange dauert” – I hope it doesn’t take too long.

Losing Schlotterbeck also costs Klopp a candidate for the captain’s armband — and according to fussballnationalmannschaft.net, without the injury the centre-back would very likely have forced his way into the starting XI against Serbia. Joshua Kimmich has left the camp after the Greece game as part of Klopp’s planned rotation between the two squad groups. “I had hoped until the very end to stay, and of course I would have liked to stay. But I understand that the coach simply wants to get to know other lads too,” Kimmich said before departing.

The armband in Kimmich’s absence will follow a simple rule Klopp announced: “Die Mannschaft wird morgen von dem Spieler aufs Feld geführt, der die meisten Länderspiele hat” – tomorrow the team will be led out by the player with the most international caps. Among the 25-man squad, Serge Gnabry is the most experienced with 61 caps, followed by Florian Wirtz (46) and David Raum (39). But Gnabry features in none of the German press’s predicted XIs — so if the predictions hold, Wirtz takes the armband.

One starter is certain: Jonas Urbig. The 23-year-old Bayern goalkeeper was confirmed as the starter at the press conference itself, and will make his Germany debut in his home stadium in Munich. “Es ist ein Moment, auf den man sein ganzes Leben hingearbeitet hat,” Urbig said — it is a moment you work your whole life for — “und werde alles dafür tun, dass wir als Mannschaft den ersten Sieg unter Jürgen Klopp einfahren” — and I will do everything so that we as a team get the first win under Jürgen Klopp. On the race for the No. 1 shirt, he was blunt: “Dieses Nummer-1-Thema hier ist keine Sache, mit der ich mich beschäftige” — this No. 1 topic is not something I concern myself with.

On the predicted lineup, the German press reached broad consensus after the Schlotterbeck news: Urbig in goal; a back four of Baku, Anton, Jeltsch and Raum, with Anton close to a guaranteed starter and Jeltsch picked to replace Schlotterbeck; Vitaly Janelt as the No. 6 in place of Kimmich; Pavlović and Wirtz ahead of him; Lennart Karl and Said El Mala on the wings. The only disagreement is at centre-forward: Bild pick Nick Woltemade, while the SID/dpa news agency — updated on the evening of 30/9, after the MRI result — go for Jonathan Burkardt with Woltemade on the bench, in a 4-3-3. The blog goes with SID/dpa as the freshest prediction, tracking the squad situation after the final training session: Urbig — Baku, Anton, Jeltsch, Raum — Janelt, Pavlović, Wirtz — Karl, Burkardt, El Mala.

Notably, it could be a night of debuts: Janelt (28, Brentford) and El Mala (20) are both in line for a first Germany cap. Klopp must also cut two players from the matchday squad — a decision not yet announced as of the evening of 30/9.

Serbia: crisis upon crisis

Serbia travel to Munich in dire straits. Coach Veljko Paunović has won just two of his eight games in charge. Serbia have lost four in a row — their worst run since 2003 — and missed the 2026 World Cup. Both Nations League openers ended 1-2: against Greece (Živković struck in the 4th minute, before Tzolis and Douvikas turned it around) and against the Netherlands (Jović equalised right after half-time, but Meerdink’s brace settled it).

Serbia’s absentee list is brutal. Dušan Vlahović withdrew with a calf injury — Paunović confirmed it himself: his striker called to say he’d felt something in his calf, saw the doctor, and the report was bad. Also missing through injury: Aleksandar Mitrović, Nikola Milenković and first-choice goalkeeper Predrag Rajković. Centre-back Strahinja Pavlović (no relation to Aleksandar) is only suffering from muscular fatigue, and remains doubtful.

The rare bright spot: 37-year-old Dušan Tadić, back after more than two years away with 113 caps — he provided the assist against Greece. “Ich bin hier, um Führungsspieler zu sein und in entscheidenden Momenten Verantwortung zu übernehmen,” Tadić said — I am here to be a leader and take responsibility in decisive moments.

Before the game, Paunović sent a message to his players: “Ich möchte, dass diese Mannschaft die Fans wieder aufweckt” — I want this team to wake the fans up again — “Das möchte ich sehen: Glauben und Mentalität” — that is what I want to see: belief and mentality.

On the lineup, German sources agree on 10 of 11 Serbia positions (4-2-3-1): V. Milinković-Savić in goal; Strahinja Pavlović and Babić at centre-back; Terzić and Nedeljković on the flanks; Lukić and Gudelj in the middle; Sergej Milinković-Savić, Stanković and Živković ahead of them. The one difference is up front: Bild predict Dejan Joveljić — the 27-year-old now at Seattle Sounders — to start, while SID and other sources go for Luka Jović, who scored right after coming on at half-time against the Netherlands. The blog picks Jović — who scored a minute after coming on for Joveljić himself against the Netherlands.

Head-to-head: perfectly balanced

Since Serbia became an independent nation, the two sides have met only three times — and the balance is perfect: one win each, one draw, 3-3 on aggregate.

– 31/5/2008, friendly in Gelsenkirchen: Germany 2-1 Serbia (Neuville, Ballack; Janković)

– 18/6/2010, World Cup group stage in Port Elizabeth: Germany 0-1 Serbia (Jovanović in the 38th minute, sixty seconds after Klose’s red card; Podolski missed a 60th-minute penalty)

– 20/3/2019, friendly in Wolfsburg: Germany 1-1 Serbia (Jović in the 12th, Goretzka in the 69th, in front of 26,101)

Key battle: the midfield and the name Pavlović

All eyes will be on the centre of the pitch, where Pavlović is likely to partner Janelt with Wirtz given freedom to create ahead of them. Across from him, a depleted but experienced Serbia midfield built around Sergej Milinković-Savić and the returning Tadić.

Klopp warned about the opposition at the press conference: “Was es gegen die Serben besonders schwierig macht, ist ihre Erfahrung… Sie sind mit allen Wassern gewaschen” — what makes Serbia particularly difficult is their experience, they are thoroughly streetwise — “Ein tief stehender Gegner ist für jede Mannschaft in jeder Entwicklungsstufe eine große Herausforderung” — a deep-lying opponent is a big challenge for any team, at any stage of development.

And he made a promise: “Wir werden eine Mannschaft bauen, die allen Mannschaften Probleme bereiten kann” — we will build a team that can cause problems for every opponent — “Wir sind alle daran interessiert, den deutschen Fußball wieder da hin zu bringen, wo wir ihn alle haben wollen” — we are all interested in bringing German football back to where we all want it.

One detail that matters: the away end at the Allianz Arena will sit empty — UEFA banned Serbia from selling away tickets following the December 2024 sanction, so Serbia received no away allocation. Thursday night in Munich will be an all-German crowd — although the DFB have sold only around 62,000 tickets and the game is not yet sold out.

Match info

– Germany vs Serbia — Nations League A, Matchday 3

– 20:45 CEST, Thursday 1/10/2026 — Allianz Arena, Munich

– Referee: Espen Eskås (Norway) — previously in charge of two Germany wins: 2-1 over the Netherlands (3/2024) and 3-1 over Northern Ireland (9/2025)

– Live: ZDF (coverage from 20:15)

– It is also the first Germany game in Munich during Oktoberfest since 1982.

– Next up: Greece vs Germany, 4/10 in Thessaloniki, live on RTL