Germany Exorcise Demons Against Gibraltar Following Slow Start to Qualifying

Germany got back to winning ways on Friday night with a 4-0 win over Gibraltar in Group D of their Euro 2016 qualifying campaign.

After a worrying start against Scotland, Ireland and Poland, Joachim Low's side secured all three points and a comfortable win in Nuremberg in front of their demanding fans. 

The recent World Cup champions will, of course, question their inability to convert on most of the numerous chances they created against the European minnows, yet at the end of the day it was a simple case of just getting the job done for Die Mannschaft. 

Low showcases Germany's tactical know-how 

Fans of the European giants were pleasantly surprised to find Germany playing a somewhat irregular 3-3-4 formation against Gibraltar, as Low hoped to offer plenty of incentive to his side with more attacking players in the starting lineup. 

This led to Germany playing with two committed strikers for the first time in quite a while in Thomas Muller and Max Kruse, while Mario Gotze, Karim Bellarabi and Lukas Podolski supported in attacking midfield. 

This, of course, then led to a lighter German defence, with Shkodran Mustafi joining Jerome Boateng and Erik Durm in a new three-man defence. 

Germany exorcise their demons

At the end of the day, Low will be delighted with picking up all three points, yet certain aspects of Germany's World Cup-winning form did return to this side on Friday. 

Fans will be delighted to see Muller striking home for his nation once again, having failed to score against Ireland and Poland in the last two games, playing in his favoured wandering role—a position that has seen him now score 28 goals in 61 games for Germany. 

We also saw young playmaker Gotze back to his best, pulling the strings and ultimately getting a goal for his troubles as he constantly harassed the Gibraltar defence from start to finish. 

Fringe players get their chance ahead of Spain clash

Germany's real test will, of course, come in the glamour friendly match against Spain on Tuesday, which Low was clearly keeping one eye on as we saw a number of second-string players come into his side throughout the match. 

Kruse may have found himself in a starting role on Friday, yet his comrade in attack, young Hoffenheim striker Kevin Volland, was forced to wait until the 60th minute to impress the German coach. 

Bayer Leverkusen's Lars Bender also featured in the game, yet fans would have taken more notice of young left-back Jonas Hector, who replaced Durm in the 72nd minute. The 24-year-old has had a brilliant start to the season with FC Cologne and now looks likely to venture further afield with Germany in the next few months, possibly starting with Spain in a few days time. 

@Sbienkowski