If all the eyes were on Split, where the Blues challenged Croatia for the first time in three days, other Cadors on the continent entered the scene, in this Final 8 of the Ligue des Nations quite attractive. The posters of these quarter -finals were worth the detour, around Europe.
In this painting, Spain looks like a scarecrow. Less than a year after her coronation at the Euro, the Roja is presented as a legitimate favorite to a final victory in a competition which she has not yet won. Lamine Yamal and his teammates were traveling to the Netherlands for a match that the late Johan Cruyff would not have denied. The prodigy of Barça was at the origin of the opening of the score by serving his Catalan teammate Pedri, whose offering found Nico Williams (0-1, 11th). But the revolt of the Oranje was struck under the leadership of Gakpo, author of a superb strike in halfway for equalization (1-1, 28th). The Bataves even found the resources to take the advantage by Reijnders after the rest (2-1, 46th), but they finished in the hard, ten after the expulsion of Hato (82nd), and La Roja took the opportunity to equalize on the Gong thanks to Merino (2-2, 90th+3).
Italy, Portugal
Another great classic in European football, the Germany-Italie meeting also delivered interesting lessons. In this shock between two of the largest institutions in world football, it was the Mannschaft that had the last word. The Italians nevertheless opened the scoring by Tonali following a nice collective movement at the start of the match (1-0, 9th). But the Nazionale did not hold the distance, and the men of Nagelsmann took over in the second period by finding the net on the net twice, on heads from Kleindienst (1-1, 49th) and Goretzka (1-2, 76th).
Finally, Portugal, which already inscribed its name in the record of this competition, was rubbed in Denmark for this first round of the final 8. Holder, the Lord Cristiano Ronaldo continued his hunt for records with the national selection. But the fivefold Ballon d'Or remained silent. Worse, he symbolized the helplessness of a Lusitanian formation alongside his pumps, and dominated in the game by daring Scandinavians. The Danes were rewarded at the end of the match taking advantage by Höjlund (1-0, 78th). Holders, the two circles of PSG Vitinha and Joao Neves did not influence. All these beautiful people will have to recover on Sunday, for second rounds that will not miss salt.
