Portugal draws Croatia without Ronaldo, Spain beats Switzerland

(Dan Tri) - In the UEFA Nations League match on the morning of November 19, Portugal drew 1-1 with Croatia on the day Ronaldo did not play, while Spain dramatically beat Switzerland 3-2.

Results of UEFA Nations League matches in the early morning of November 19 (Photo: UEFA).

Coach Roberto Martinez opted to leave out key players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva after qualifying for the quarter-finals. Despite that, Portugal still showed dominance when playing away to Croatia.

Right from the first minutes of the match, Portugal continuously caused trouble in front of Croatian goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic's goal, however the home team's defense still stood firm against the opponent's attacks.

Portugal had trouble against Croatia's tight defense (Photo: Reuters).

In the 33rd minute, Vitor Ferreira made a pass that tore through Croatia's defense, Joao Felix intelligently escaped and coolly defeated goalkeeper Livakovic in a one-on-one situation, opening the score.

Having conceded a goal, Croatia pushed up their formation to find an equalizer, but the home team's strikers were unlucky, causing the first half to end with Portugal leading.

In the second half, Croatia's efforts to find an equalizer were rewarded in the 65th minute when Kristijan Jakic handled the ball skillfully and then made a delicate cross, allowing Gvardiol to run down and finish close to the goal to equalize 1-1.

Portugal then almost regained the lead when Mendes had a golden chance with a close-range tap-in, but Livakovic made an excellent save.

After a 1-1 draw, Portugal and Croatia officially qualified for the Nations League quarter-finals with first and second place respectively in Group 1 of League A. Meanwhile, Scotland will have to play in the play-off round to compete for relegation, while Poland will be relegated to League B after finishing bottom of the group.

Spain also won a ticket to the quarter-finals in the previous round, however, coach Luis de la Fuente and his team still played with determination when hosting the team that was sure to be relegated, Switzerland, at home.

Right from the first minutes of the match, Swiss goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo had to work hard against the relentless attacks of the home team's players.

Spain had a dramatic score chase when hosting Switzerland at home (Photo: Reuters).

In the 32nd minute, Spain opened the scoring although Pedri could not beat goalkeeper Yvon Mvogo from the penalty spot, but Yeremy Pino's follow-up shot quickly put the home team ahead.

In the second half, Switzerland equalized thanks to Joel Monteiro in the 63rd minute after a skillful dribble. Just 5 minutes later, Bryan Salvatierra increased the score to 2-1 for Spain by successfully taking advantage of a rebound in the penalty area.

The match became more dramatic when Fabian Ruiz received a red card in the 84th minute after a rough tackle, the referee awarded Switzerland a penalty. Andi Zeqiri did not miss this precious opportunity to equalize 2-2 for the away team.

In the 90+2 minute, the referee continued to blow the whistle for a penalty, but this time for the Spanish team. Bryan Zaragoza successfully converted the penalty kick, securing a 3-2 victory for the home team.

With a 3-2 win, Spain topped Group 4 of League A with 16 points from 6 matches. Group rivals Denmark finished behind with 8 points, Serbia finished 3rd with 6 points and Switzerland finished bottom with 2 points.

Thus, the 8 teams that have won tickets to the UEFA Nations League quarter-finals have been determined to be the Netherlands, Spain, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Croatia and Denmark.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/bo-dao-nha-hoa-croatia-khi-vang-ronaldo-tay-ban-nha-thang-thuy-si-20241119064817994.htm