Both Giampiero Ventura and Joachim Low felt they could take plenty of positives away after Italy and Germany played out a goalless friendly in Milan.
In a repeat of their Euro 2016 quarterfinal, which saw Germany eventually came out on top following a penalty shootout, there was little to separate two sides, each with an experimental look at the San Siro.
The Azzurri, who romped to a 4-0 win over Liechtenstein in their World Cup qualifier on Saturday, started with a three-man attack composed of Eder, Ciro Immobile and Andrea Belotti.
Germany, meanwhile, opted for a three-man defence of Benedikt Howedes, Mats Hummels and Shkodran Mustafi, with Wolfsburg youngster Yannick Gerhardt given a debut in midfield.
Bayer Leverkusen forward Kevin Volland saw a second-half effort disallowed for a marginal offside call, and with eight minutes left, Italy forward Belotti's shot came back off the inside of the post.
Italy coach Ventura said afterwards: "We played a good game and granted little to our opponents.
"It is true that they lacked some players, but we also had some missing.
"Nevertheless, Germany is the world champion team and we have given them almost nothing and also had four or five chances when we had the superior number of players that we could have made better.
"Perhaps the result was a bit tight, but we have to accept it.''
Ventura added: "We have played with 3-5-2 in Israel, then with 4-2-4 in Liechtenstein and today with the 3-4-3 formation after just two days training.
"So congratulations to this team which begins on a course, there is so much to do, but the future is much brighter than you might think.''
Germany head coach Joachim Low also felt his squad will have been able to learn a lot as they progress through qualification with a comfortable lead over Northern Ireland in UEFA Group C.
"It a very tactically challenging game. We have been able to take important findings with us,'' Low said. "Before such an audience, our young players are gaining important experience.
"With the game and the journey to Italy, we can be just as satisfied as we can be from our series of six games without conceding a goal.
"Our balance sheet for the year 2016 is good overall.
"Now we want to go through the qualification for the World Cup and this time not let up.''