The issue is the attacking midfield role, where Germany have both Florian Wirtz (Liverpool FC) and Jamal Musiala (Bayern Munich) available. "As far as I am concerned, Musiala and Wirtz can happily play together. But with Kimmich as the only holding midfielder, the Musiala/Wirtz duo would be too attacking against top teams. Then, in Klopp's system, it is Musiala or Wirtz," Matthäus told Sport Bild.
Across the previous four internationals, Klopp had avoided the issue by naming the Bayern star for the first two games, in the Netherlands and against Greece. Wirtz was originally included in the second squad, which was cleared to play against Serbia and in Greece, before Germany called him up early because Musiala had suffered an injury during the warm-up before the Netherlands match.
"They are probably our best players when they get back to top form. Leaving one of them out therefore sounds absurd," Matthäus said. He said German football had faced the same dilemma at the 1974 World Cup: "Back then it was: Günter Netzer or Wolfgang Overath?" Matthäus reflected.
Getty Images"I would be very pleased if Klopp could answer the question with: Musiala and Wirtz! But I do not believe we will see this solution at the 2028 European Championship," was the final verdict of the 65-year-old.
How many internationals have Wirtz and Musiala already played?
Musiala made his Germany debut in March 2021 and has 46 caps (10 goals). In 2022, he was also voted Germany player of the year.
Meanwhile, Wirtz has 48 caps (12 goals) since first pulling on the senior national team shirt in September 2021.