Daily Schmankerl: The aftermath of Germany vs. Spain; Bayern Munich, Manchester City made offers to Real Madrid’s Toni Kroos; Liverpool, City, Madrid lead on BVB’s Jude Bellingham; Marcus Thuram wants Bayern move; and MORE!

Die Folgen: Germany’s 1-1 with Spain (Bavarian Football Works)

Former Bayern Munich manager Hansi Flick found himself in the unenviable position of needing to match up a very good squad from Spain.

No, Flick did not need Germany to win to keep their hopes alive (the 1-1 result will do just fine), but he needed to build some kind of momentum. For roughly 70 minutes, it appeared that this would end up as a lost cause, but the final 20 minutes proved eventful — and show that Germany still have the ability to dig deep and rally when it needs to.

A draw isn’t a win, but it was good enough for this game. Here are some quick hitters on the match:

• The lineup went as anticipated with Hansi Flick opting for a 4-3-3 with Thomas Müller operating as the No. 9 (Hint: It did not work):

• You could absolutely rant about this formation and the pieces within it, but Flick is literally spit-balling things right now. He tried some things...much of it didn’t work...now he will adapt again against Costa Rica.
• Spain was in control early, but Germany did seem to have a lot more jump in their step for this match. That was refreshing to see.
• In the 10th minute, Germany had a terrific opportunity, but no chances generated because Serge Gnabry went offside. İlkay Gündoğan has a nifty little flick to a hard-charging Leon Goretzka, but the Bayern Munich midfielder held on the the ball a smidge too long and Gnabry couldn’t hold his run any longer.
• Speaking of Gündoğan, I think it’s time to send him back to the bench. He does a lot of things...okay, but nothing great at this point.

• I think this was the first time I really saw Flick looked stressed. He looked beaten by this experience. That fire and constant real-time analysis that we saw during his Bayern Munich tenure was not there. This has to extremely maddening for him as he cannot seem to push the right buttons for this group (most of the time).
• In the 25th minute Germany had a crazy sequence where they had a few chances to make something happen, but Gündoğan inexplicably did not make a run to crash toward the net. Had he done that, he could have had a good chance to run into Gnabry’s wide shot attempt.
• Just a minute later, Manuel Neuer had a really baffling turnover, but David Raum bailed him out. It was a total “yikes” moment. Raum is a talent, but right now, Germany does not need his particular skill-set. I think we could see Christian Günter get his first start of the tournament.
• In the 40th minute, it looked like Joshua Kimmich had a perfectly-placed free kick on to the head of Antonio Rüdiger, who was centimeters offside in the end.
• Rüdiger has been very good in the World Cup so far.
• Gnabry was bad in key situations. He looked great right before he left Bayern Munich for the Germany camp, but has not been effective so far in the World Cup.
• In fact, Germany’s attack continued to be completely toothless and non-threatening.
• In the 62nd minute, Álvaro Morata, who had only been subbed in a few minutes earlier, beat Niklas Süle and put a deft little flick on the ball to score the first goal of the match. You could also argue that Thilo Kehrer should have done a lot of better in stopping the ball in from Jordi Alba.
• Kehrer is just not very good.
• I didn’t see Dani Olmo emerging as Spain’s most dangerous attacker coming into the World Cup, but here we are.
• Müller brought nothing to the pitch. It was very difficult for him to get involved and he just did not pose a threat to Spain at all. In fairness, though, it was hard to find any Germany player who you could say really presented any danger for the first 70 minutes or so. Even Jamal Musiala was stifled and frustrated.
• In the 72nd minute, Niclas Füllkrug whiffed on a cross in from Musiala. everything was good on the play, but the lack of contact from Füllkrug’s foot to the ball.
• In the 73rd minute, Musiala not only missed a point-blank shot attempt, but he didn’t see a wide open Füllkrug to his left. It would have been a tap-in for the Werder Bremen man. Musiala is young and incredibly good, but he has to make the right play there. The shame of it was that he made the absolute perfect run to free himself up. It was a beautiful play until the shot.
• Again, this was a match where Timo Werner would have presented issues to an out-of-position and not-exactly-speedy Rodri at center-back for Spain. I know you will all kill me for that, but I do think it’s true. Werner was productive under Flick and the group was still learning how to play together. Clearly, as much as I would like it to be, Müller just is not the answer.
• Leroy Sané’s presence made an instant impact for Germany.
• Some excellent work from Sané and Musiala saw the ball end up on Füllkrug’s foot — and he hit a freaking beauty to knot the game at 1-1. Who doesn’t love a good redemption arc?

• Nico Schlotterbeck needs a ton of work. He has great potential, but is a total work-in-progress.
• Sané should have clinched three points in the 5th minute of extra time, but he held on toooooo long and earned a corner. He should have scored...still a great appearance for him nonetheless.
• Overall, I had predicted a draw for this match (I said 2-2) because I just didn’t think Germany looked ready to assert itself against a good team. For roughly 72 minutes, I was correct. Spain was — by far — the better team. Then, some magic happened in the form of Flick’s substitutions, who brought life into the match. For whatever reason, that worked for me and I am feeling good about Germany’s chances once again.

If you missed out Initial Analysis, Match Awards, Observations, or Postgame Podcast, give them a look or a listen:

Bayern, City tried to lure Kroos away from Madrid? (Madrid Universal)

Did Bayern Munich really make an attempt to lure Toni Kroos away from Real Madrid? If so, that would be wild:

According to a report from Mundo Deportivo, Toni Kroos has had offers from other clubs as well. Bayern Munich and Manchester City are among the clubs to have contacted and explored the possibility of signing the veteran midfielder next season.

But the report suggests Kroos has rejected both proposals. He is not keen on moving away from Santiago Bernabeu. And it stands, his decision lingers between a prolonged stay at Real Madrid or announcing an early retirement.

Thuram wants Bayern move (JuveFC.com)

Borussia Mönchengladbach striker Marcus Thuram reportedly wants to move to Bayern Munich — and not Juventus, Inter Milan, or some of the other clubs pursuing him:

The striker is one of the finest in the Bundesliga and will be a free agent at the end of this campaign. The Germans want to keep him and would prefer to sell him in the January transfer window if he does not sign a new deal.

Juve and Inter Milan are keen to add him to their squad, but a report on Tuttomercatoweb reveals the attacker is not keen on a January move from Gladbach. He wants to run down his deal at the German side and when he becomes free, his preference is Bayern Munich.

Bavarian Podcast Works: Weekend Warm-up Podcast Season 2, Episode 21 (Bavarian Football Works)

Bayern Munich’s luck has been pretty terrible at the World Cup. For Germany, it has not been much better, either.

For both club and country, Citizen King’s 1999 tune “Better Days” absolutely rings true (and yup, there may have been ample Thanksgiving beers consumed for me to remember that song).

Bayern Munich and Germany could use some new juju to change up the way things have been going, and we’ll see if we can find some reason to get the optimism rolling.

This is what we have on tap for this episode:

• Bayern’s rumored offer to Gladbach’s Marcus Thuram.
• Could Bayern Munich really expedite their pursuit of Florian Wirtz?
• What Bayern Munich’s backline will look like without Lucas Hernandez.
• Some final thoughts on the series finale of The Walking Dead.

LFC, City, Madrid frontrunners for BVB’s Bellingham (@Plettigoal)

Liverpool FC, Manchester City, and Real Madrid are reportedly in the lead for Borussia Dortmund star and England midfielder Jude Bellingham:

Gakpo to United? (@RossHardwood_)

It looks like Manchester United could be close to making a deal for PSV Eindhoven’s Cody Gakpo:

Dembélé compliments Pavard (Barca Universal)

FC Barcelona attacker Ousmane Dembélé threw a compliment in the direction of Bayern Munich’s Benjamin Pavard after France down Denmark 2-1.

“Pavard and (Jules) Koundé are very good defenders, they understand the defensive or offensive game well and make space for us. We talk a lot on and off the field,” said Dembélé.