Julian Nagelsmann backs Manuel Neuer as Germany’s number one despite error against Greece

Julian Nagelsmann does not want to get drawn into a goalkeeping discussion ahead of the Euros and is backing Manuel Neuer to come good despite his error against Greece.

Germany concluded their Euro 2024 preparations on Friday evening with a come from behind 2-1 win over Greece. Pascal Groß came off the bench and scored the winning goal, but the spotlight after the game was on Manuel Neuer.

The Bayern Munich goalkeeper continued his indifferent run of form on Friday as he failed to deal with what appeared to be a straightforward shot from distance, and parried it straight into the path of Giorgos Masouras, who tapped the ball home to give Greece the lead.

Despite the mistake, Neuer retains the backing on Julian Nagelsmann. The Germany head coach has made it clear that he has no plans to drop the 38 year old ahead of the Euros.

"I'm not going to start a discussion about Manuel Neuer, even if everyone tries. When a mistake happens, it's easy to say it was Manu's fault," Nagelsmann told RTL (via Kicker). "Internally, we won't be looking at the mistake, tinkering things or discussing the goalkeeping issue. He has my trust."

Marc-André ter Stegen and Oliver Baumann are the other goalkeepers in the Germany squad for Euro 2024, while Bayern Munich loanee Alexander Nübel has been left out of the final squad.

Manuel Neuer admitted after the game that he should have done a better job of dealing with the shot. He will now hope to move on from the error quickly and begin his preparations for Germany’s Euro 2024 opener against Scotland on June 14. The European Championship could well be Neuer’s final tournament for Germany, with reports claiming in recent days that the goalkeeper is thinking about retiring from the national team.