Nations League Matchweek 1 - Day 1

 Football was back with a bang with the beginning of the international break and the start of the UEFA Nations League. With 10 competitive games played last night, most spectators had their eyes on one particular game; Germany hosted Spain at the Mercedes-Benz Arena. 

Latvia featured in the first game of the evening, hosting Andorra at the Daugavas Stadions. With the game ending 0-0, there was not much to take away. The only big event that occurred was a 71st-minute direct red card to Latvian Vladislavs Gutkovskis. Andorra should have taken the game in those last 20 minutes, but struggled against a defensive-positive Latvia.

Ukraine hosted Switzerland where the home team capitalised on their chances and ending up winning against a strong Swiss squad, who must have expected to beat Ukraine. West Ham player Andriy Yarmolenko fired the home team on a 14th-minute lead only for Haris Seferovic to convert a Granit Xhaka assist just before half-time to equalise the result. Manchester City wonderkid, Oleksandr Zinchenko then scored in the 68th minute to take the game for Ukraine.

Russia hosted Serbia at the VTB arena only to thrash them 3-1. The scoring started only after half-time when Artem Dzyuba converted a penalty. Vyacheslav Karavaev then doubled the lead in the 69th minute. Artem Dzyuba doubled his personal tally on the day by scoring on the 81st minute. Fulham star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic scored the only goal for his team.

Turkey hosted Hungary in a Group B3 match only for the visitors to take the result away. Dominik Szoboszlai scored the only goal of the game at the 80th minute. In a game majorly dominated by Turkey in terms of possession, they should have wanted to win the game.

Bulgaria hosted Ireland in a Group B4 match. The home team started the scoring in the 56th minute through a Bozhidar Kraev goal. They controlled the game and would have had the 3 points if Ireland hadn't equalised late in the 93rd minute through a Shane Duffy goal.

Finland hosted Wales where the visitors scored the only goal of the game. Kiefer Moore scored from a Daniel James assist in the 80th minute to take the game for Wales. Gareth Bale played from the beginning only to be substituted at half-time.

Moldova hosted Kosovo in a fairly competitive game where Kosovo would have wanted to take the result by their sheer dominating performance. Instead, Moldova took the lead in the 19th minute only for Kosovo to equalise late in the 71st minute.

Slovenia faced Greece at home in a game that was dominated by Greece but ended at 0-0. The Slovenia fans would have been the happier sets of fans as the game was proof of Greece being the winner. Jan Oblak made vital saves for the home team and Greece's finishing was quite wasteful.

The Faroe Islands hosted Malta to a treat of a game that was taken away by the home team during the dying moments of the game. The Faroe Islands took the lead at the 25th minute only to have the goal cancelled out 12 minutes later when Malta equalised.  Malta thought they had had the game when they took the lead in the 73rd minute. The Faroe Islands displayed their fighting spirit by scoring twice in the last three minutes to take the three points from a majorly competitive game.

The Big Game

Germany hosted Spain in the widely anticipated game that was due to be watched by millions. Both teams had called-up a fairly inexperienced squad. The German squad had an experienced attack, while the Spanish squad had an experienced defence. German debutant Robin Gosens assisted the first goal of the game for ace-striker Timo Werner in the 51st minute. Spain's inexperience at attack was evident as they failed to make the vital last move that reached goalkeeper, Kevin Trapp. Eventually, defender Jose Gaya managed to grab a goal in the 5th minute of additional time to end the game 1-1.