A first-half goal by Benfica striker Luca Waldschmidt sealed a 1-0 friendly win for Germany over the Czech Republic on Wednesday as the hosts kept a clean sheet for the first time this year.
A makeshift Germany team kept the Czechs goalless in Leipzig in a warm-up for Nations League matches at home against Ukraine on Saturday and away to Spain next Tuesday.
"We defended well," said midfielder Florian Neuhaus. "Now we want to win against Ukraine on Saturday."
Germany coach Joachim Loew opted to rest most of his first-choice stars and used the friendly behind closed doors to field effectively a reserve team.
Loew admitted the line-up will probably "not play again" in the build-up to the Euro 2020 finals next June, but was pleased to see "the boys put their backs into it".
"It was the win we wanted and we can be happy with the new players," Loew told RTL, after Wolfsburg's Ridle Baku and PSV Eindhoven's Philipp Max made their debuts on the wings.
Manchester City midfielder Ilkay Gundogan, one of the few of Loew's first-choice players, captained the side before being replaced at half-time by Borussia Dortmund's Mahmoud Dahoud.
The 27-year-old Max was one of the few players to shine and played a key role in what proved to be the winning goal.
He reacted fastest to a parried save to fire in a quick cross, allowing former Freiburg forward Waldschmidt to tap home in the 13th minute for his second goal on his fifth Germany appearance.
Dortmund winger Julian Brandt, who has a good chance of making Germany's Euro 2020 squad, wasted one of the best chances of the night when he fired over with the goal at his mercy.
The Czech Republic lost goalkeeper Filip Nguyen and midfielder David Pavelka in the build-up after both tested positive for coronavirus and rarely tested the German defence in Leipzig.
Czech replacement Matej Vydra squandered the visitors' best chances late on when the Burnley forward headed straight at Germany goalkeeper Kevin Trapp, then fired over moments later.
Selected international friendly results on Wednesday:At Istanbul, Turkey
Turkey 3 (Tosun 23-pen, Turuc 41, Under 58) Croatia 3 (Budimir 32, Pasalic 53, Brekalo 56)
At Brondby, Denmark
Denmark 2 (Wind 61, Bah 74) Sweden 0
At Amsterdam
Netherlands 1 (Van de Beek 47) Spain 1 (Canales 19)
At Hervelee, Belgium
Belgium 2 (Batshuayi 49, 70) Switzerland 1 (Mehmedi 12)
At Florence, Italy
Italy 4 (Grifo 14, 75-pen, Bernardeschi 27, Orsolini 86-pen) Estonia 0
At Leipzig, Germany
Germany 1 (Waldschmidt 13) Czech Republic 0
At Lisbon
Portugal 7 (Neto 8, Paulinho 29, 61, Sanches 56, Garcia 76-og, Ronaldo 85, Felix 88) Andorra 0
At Chorzow, Poland
Poland 2 (Piatek 40, Moder 63) Ukraine 0
At Paris
France 0 Finland 2 (Forss 28, Valakari 31)