B-V-Briefing: International Edition + More

On Saturday, Germany defeated France 2-0 in a friendly. The lone BVB nomination, Niclas Füllkrug was used as a late substitute in the 80th minute, with the win already in the bag for Julian Nagelsmann's side. The striker will be looking for more minutes when Germany take on the Netherlands this Tuesday. 

Speaking of the Netherlands, they played a friendly last week against Scotland, defeating them 4-0. The two teams had strikingly similar statistics, but the Dutch were far more clinical in finishing. Donyell Malen was subbed into this game for the final 13 minutes and managed to bag a goal, continuing his fine form. Perhaps he’ll make the starting XI in the Netherlands' next match.

While Gregor Kobel traveled to Switzerland’s training camp, he quickly returned to Germany as a precautionary measure to avoid aggravating his recent injury. If this means the goalkeeper is more likely to be in the team against Bayern, then I’m more than satisfied with the decision. Kobel should be looking to impress the remainder of this season if he hopes to oust Yann Sommer as the Swiss number one for the Euros. 

Salih Özcan was an unused substitute in Turkey’s 1-0 loss to Hungary, a match decided by a solitary penalty kick. In Norway, Julian Ryerson is training with his national team, but was absent from the bench in their 2-1 loss to the Czech Republic. Ryerson is still dealing with discomfort from his mysterious skin problem,. 

While Marcel Sabitzer will remain suspended for Borussia Dortmund’s clash with Bayern Munich this weekend, he did feature for a full 90 minutes in Austria’s 2-0 friendly victory over Slovakia. The midfielder also helped make the second goal happen with a fine lobbed through ball.

Ramy Bensebaini started Algeria’s 3-2 friendly win over Bolivia, but he was forced off with an injury just twenty minutes into the contest. He’ll be a doubt for the trip to Bayern next week, although I question whether he’d see minutes in that game regardless.