After conceding a late goal away at the Netherlands prevented Jurgen Klopp’s return to football management from starting with a victory, Germany were looking for a response in Augsburg against a Greek side who were victorious in their League A debut on Thursday.
The home side - who made five changes to their starting XI - got off to a sluggish start here, however, with their only chance of the opening quarter-hour falling to debutant Bambase Conte, who flashed an effort narrowly wide inside three minutes.
It took until the half-hour for Germany to stamp their authority on proceedings, and when they did, Karim Adeyemi broke down the left into the box, but the Barcelona man sent his shot high over the bar.
Adeyemi was proving to be the most threatening German forward as he also had a powerful strike saved from the edge of the box, but Klopp’s men failed to make their dominance count leading up to half-time, ending a run of their last 10 matches to see at least one goal scored at either end.
Germany continued to dominate following the restart, but just as they struggled in the first half, Klopp’s men again failed to turn their dominance into an opener.
As the hosts became desperate and threw more men forward, gaps began to open for the Greeks to exploit on the counter. Christos Tzolis had an opportunity to break the deadlock in the 73rd minute, but as he ran through down the right, the angle was against the Arsenal forward and his ball into the box failed to find a teammate.
Greece continued to grow in confidence, however, and stunned the home side a minute later. Tzolis was involved once again, running down the left flank before his cutback deflected into the path of Kourbelis on the edge of the box, and the Asteras Tripolis midfielder’s shot struck Joshua Kimmich, which deceived Alexander Nubel in the German goal.
The Germans failed to respond, displaying a serious lack of attacking threat after going behind, which leaves Klopp frustrated and with work to do ahead of their home match against Serbia, where Germany will hope to win for the first time in four games.
Greece, meanwhile, are unlikely table-toppers in Group A2 following back-to-back victories, while they also ended a run of four straight head-to-head defeats.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Konstantinos Mavropanos (Greece)