It was a humbler and wiser Germany that stepped from the turf here at full-time: euphoric after Niclas Füllkrug’s injury-time header, relieved at topping the group, but with perhaps a more realistic idea of where they are and what they are capable of. Like one of its trains, Germany’s Euro 2024 journey stuttered and stumbled here, even threatening an unscheduled diversion. And so this goal was worth more than one Group A point. It averted a last-16 tie at Berlin’s Olympiastadion – probably against their nemesis Italy – followed by perhaps England, France and Spain. More importantly, it keeps the good vibes around what has thus far been a tournament of discovery and growth. The yellow card to Jonathan Tah is a nuisance, putting him out of the next game, and there will be a certain anxiety at the ease with which Switzerland were able to cut them open on the break. There is still plenty of work to be done on this team, but after Füllkrug’s late goal the show is still just about on the road. Murat Yakin’s Swiss side were sensational and slippery, salty when they had to be to, scoring in the first half through Dan Ndoye and seeing their lead all the way through to 90 minutes. They rode their luck a little, but made plenty of their own too, marshalled by the magnificent Granit Xhaka, named player of the match after a mesmerising duel with the great Toni Kroos in central midfield.And somehow you knew that Xhaka was never going to be a peripheral force in this game: not just as a leader and talisman but as the man with the keys to the Bayer Leverkusen mainframe, having won the Bundesliga title with Tah, Robert Andrich and Florian Wirtz this season. But for the most part his attentions were focused on Kroos, determining that if he could disrupt the conductor, Germany might just struggle to hold a tune. There was an early warning when Kroos was robbed by Xhaka in his own half, saved from a dangerous counter only by a slightly fortuitous referee’s whistle. And for all Germany’s early fluency Switzerland were still offering a threat on the break, their front three combining well. They rode their luck a little when Andrich’s long-range effort was ruled out for a foul by Jamal Musiala on Michel Aebischer in the buildup, sparing the blushes of Yann Sommer who really should have done better with the shot. Right up until the instant Ndoye’s goal hit the net, however, Germany had looked reasonably comfortable. Perhaps too comfortable. Certainly as Xhaka pounced on Kroos’s casual pass to steal the ball from Musiala, setting Switzerland on a four-on-four attack, there was little immediate alarm in the German defence, who simply monitored Remo Freuler as he took the ball into the left channel. But the cross from Freuler was opportunistic, off-balance and perfect. Antonio Rüdiger reacted too late to the run of Ndoye, and the Bologna winger connected with a satisfying first-time volley. Somehow the pandemonium in the Swiss end of the stadium was offset by the nervous silence everywhere else. The first little bump in the road. The first setback. Now, perhaps, we would discover what this German team were really made of. The initial auguries were not good. The very next attack, Ndoye got clear again and shot just wide. Rüdiger, who was having a horrific few minutes, put a free header wide at the back post. Tah was booked for a high foot on Breel Embolo, putting him out of the last 16. So much for “maintaining the rhythm”, as Nagelsmann had called for ahead of the game, naming an unchanged starting lineup despite qualification already being secure. The benefit, of course, is that everyone knows the plan. Germany emerged from the break offering more of the same, only louder. The full-backs pushed up a little higher and tighter, tucking in Switzerland’s back five like a hotel bedsheet. Wirtz produced the pass of the match, a frankly ridiculous banana-ball with the outside of the foot down the centre to Musiala, who tested Sommer with a fierce shot. But it was at the other end that Germany’s most pressing problems remained, that curious lack of intensity against the ball threatening to undo them again and again. There were few clear-cut chances for the Swiss, but lots of little out-balls and half-openings that allowed them to get their breath back. Stung into action, Nagelsmann counter-intuitively made his first changes in defence, bringing on Nico Schlotterbeck for Tah and David Raum, a more all-action kind of left-back than Maximilian Mittelstädt. The chances continued to flow, most of them for the home side. Kai Havertz hit the bar with a header. Manuel Akanji made a heroic block from Joshua Kimmich from five yards. Nagelsmann went to a 4-4-2, bringing off his flighty attacking midfielders and subbing on the pace of Maximilian Beier and the brawn of Niclas Füllkrug up front. And with almost the final action of the game, Füllkrug came through, rising highest and nodding Raum’s cross home to bring the Frankfurt Arena to its feet.