In the second half, Morata (54) missed a penalty, but the captain of the ‘Roja’ had his redemption after taking advantage of a great pass from Fabián Ruiz, with a tight shot. The party ended in Córdoba Baena, with a direct free kick leading to the quarterfinals.
Scotland avoids defeat
In the other match of the key, Switzerland achieved its first unit by drawing 2-2 at home against Denmark. The Swiss team took the lead twice in the first half, but a goal from the emblematic Christian Eriksen (69) sealed a tie that leaves the Danes in 2nd position with 7 points and the Swiss still at the bottom despite their first point.
Portugal also tied in Glasgow, a result with which the ‘Seleçao’ gave up its first points in the Nations League after having won the first three games.
Against the bottom of group A1, Cristiano Ronaldo’s teammates did not win, but they retained first place with three points ahead of Croatia.
In November Portugal will try to validate their qualification for the quarterfinals at home against Poland, before traveling to Split to play against Croatia. Scotland, threatened by relegation to League B, at least broke their losing streak to the delight of their fans.
Players from the best European teams paraded through Glasgow. Accompanying, among others, CR7, infinite captain at 39 years old, were Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, Diogo Jota, Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leao, the latter two acting as game-changers from the bench, although the local defense resisted.
Emotion in Warsaw
The most exciting match of the night took place in Warsaw, a 3-3 draw full of plot twists.
Poland took the early lead on the scoreboard, with a goal from Piotr Zielinski (5), but Croatia came back with three goals in just seven minutes.
Borna Sosa tied first (19), then Petar Sucic turned the score around (24) and his Dinamo Zagreb teammate Martin Baturina dealt a third blow (26) to Robert Lewandowski’s teammates.
Poland got back into the game just before half-time with a goal from 22-year-old Nicola Zalewski (45), and Sebastian Szymanski (68), assisted by ‘Lewy’, brought the score back into the tie.
Despite having led 3-1, the tie was golden for Croatia, who ended up with 10 men after the expulsion of their goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic for an unfortunate tackle on Lewandowski (76). The Croatians are 2nd with 7 units and Poland 3rd with 4.
There were also games in League C, with Northern Ireland’s 5-0 rout of Bulgaria in Group 3 being the highlight. In Group 2, Romania achieved its fourth victory in as many days by winning 2-1 in Lithuania.
Tuesday’s results on matchday 4 of the Nations League and standings:
– League A
Group 1
Poland – Croatia 3 – 3
Scotland – Portugal 0 – 0
Classification: Pts JGEP GF GC
1. Portugal 10 4 3 1 0 7 3
2. Croatia 7 4 2 1 1 7 6
3. Poland 4 4 1 1 2 7 9
4. Scotland 1 4 0 1 3 4 7
Group 4
Spain – Serbia 3 – 0
Switzerland – Denmark 2 – 2
Classification: Pts JGEP GF GC
1. Spain 10 4 3 1 0 8 1
2. Denmark 7 4 2 1 1 6 3
3. Serbia 4 4 1 1 2 2 5
4. Switzerland 1 4 0 1 3 3 10
– League C
Group 2
Lithuania – Romania 1 – 2
Kosovo – Cyprus 3 – 0
Classification: Pts JGEP GF GC
1. Rumania 12 4 4 0 0 11 2
2. Kosovo 9 4 3 0 1 9 4
3. Cyprus 3 4 1 0 3 1 10
4. Lithuania 0 4 0 0 4 3 8
Group 3
Belarus – Luxembourg 1 – 1
Northern Ireland – Bulgaria 5 – 0
Classification: Pts JGEP GF GC
1. Northern Ireland 7 4 2 1 1 7 1
2. Belarus 6 4 1 3 0 2 1
3. Bulgaria 5 4 1 2 1 1 5
4. Luxembourg 2 4 0 2 2 1 4