4-time World Cup champion Germany has forgotten how to win games a year before hosting Euro 2024
Perhaps the only positive Germany can draw from its national soccer teamโs deepening crisis is that the 2024 European Championship is still a year away.
![Germany's 6-0 loss in Spain confirms national team's decline](https://www.ksat.com/resizer/Z817k7XTMexhlyJn-B4ZxJV27M4=/1600x1146/smart/filters:format(jpeg):strip_exif(true):strip_icc(true):no_upscale(true):quality(65)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gmg/CNZOGPJUZFC7VPDJWMT54YX7F4.jpg)
Germany's 6-0 loss in Spain confirms national team's decline
Germany's Leon Goretzka, Niklas Suele and Matthias Ginter, from left, react following the UEFA Nations League soccer match between Spain and Germany in Seville, Spain, Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2020. Spain won the match 6-0. (AP Photo/Miguel Morenatti)BERLIN โ Germanyโs 6-0 thrashing had been coming for some time. Lรถw was supposed to reinvigorate the squad with fresh young talent after Germanyโs woeful World Cup showing in 2018. โThe trust in Joachim Lรถw is still there, absolutely," Germany team director Oliver Bierhoff said.
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Champions League: Madrid in trouble despite late fightback
(AP Photo/Martin Meissner)With one point from its opening two games, Real Madrid is facing another fight to preserve its proud record of qualifying for the knockout stage in all of its seasons in the Champions League. Heading into the 87th minute against Borussia Mรถnchengladbach, Madrid was losing 2-0 and on course for four straight losses in the Champions League for the first time. Madrid is in bigger trouble, though, in its 25th campaign in the Champions League, in which the team has never been eliminated in the group stage. Defending champion Bayern Munich is having no such trouble, with a 2-1 victory at Lokomotiv Moscow extending its winning run in the Champions League to 13 games. However, Jota scored in the 55th for a historic goal for Liverpool and substitute Mohamed Salah converted a stoppage-time penalty.
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Boateng recounts pain of racist abuse to Bayern teammates
For weeks Bayern Munich players had been showing solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement at games when Jerome Boateng was approached by teammates for a deeper conversation. Before our break, I talked actually to Joshua Kimmich and Leon Goretzka about it, Boateng recalled on a video call. There are some situations of course that are really hard to help, but you can always help in a situation, the defender said. Now the German champions are preparing to take the field again in the Champions League next week, in the round of 16 against Chelsea where they lead 3-0 from the first leg in February. I think about racism you never can do enough as you see how bad it is still in the world right now," Boateng said.
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Bayern coach Flick the key to latest Bundesliga triumph
(AP Photo/Martin Meissner, Pool)BERLIN Bayern Munich effectively won the Bundesliga title in November when it appointed Hansi Flick as coach. Bayerns defensive record was its worst since Jrgen Klinsmann was coach in 2008. Kovac had led Bayern to a league and cup double the season before but never had the full backing of the clubs leadership. Bayern is currently on a 14-game winning run including the 3-0 win over Chelsea in London in the Champions League. There are also other reasons Bayern has won an unprecedented eight consecutive title, mostly tied to the clubs financial might.
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Black Lives Matter in Bundesliga, Bayern keeps winning
(Lars Baron, Pool via AP)BERLIN Germanys soccer league was marked by gestures against racism and support for the Black Lives Matter movement on Saturday as Bayern Munich took another step toward a record-extending eighth straight Bundesliga title. All of Borussia Dortmund and Hertha Berlins 22 outfield players took a knee in the center-circle together before the top tier's late game with no fans present. Bayern's players had Black Lives Matter printed on their armbands, partly covering sponsor Qatar Airways logo on the left arm. Robert Lewandowski scored Bayerns fourth to claim his 30th Bundesliga goal of the season, set up by Thomas Mller, who now has 20 assists. It also had to do without fans, as all Bundesliga games are being played without supporters amid strict hygiene measures against coronavirus.