Germany draws 0-0 with Greece and the Netherlands tops Group B of the European Nations League

The German national team returned with a goalless draw with the taste of defeat against its Greek host in the fourth round of the second group of the first level of the European Nations League on Sunday, and the Dutch were the biggest beneficiaries of taking the lead by renewing their victory over Serbia 2-1.

The first two teams in the group after the end of the group stage in mid-November will qualify for the quarter-finals scheduled for March.

In the first match at the “Stadio Toumbas” stadium in Thessaloniki, the German team, which was seeking to open a new page with coach Jurgen Klopp, returned to failure after Yateem’s victory over Serbia 2-1 in the last round, as negativity overshadowed the result and performance.

Out of the four matches played in this window, the four-time world champions scored five points from a win, two draws and a defeat, ranking third in the group behind the Netherlands, which leads with eight points on goal difference from runner-up Greece, while Serbia finished fourth and last without a score.

After Klopp initially announced an expanded list that included 44 players divided into two groups, it seemed that the second group demonstrated greater capabilities by beating Serbia 2-0 in the third round after two matches in which the Germans failed to win, including a 0-1 loss to Greece itself in Munich and a 1-1 draw against the Netherlands in Amsterdam.

The former Liverpool coach included David Raum, Lennart Karl and Jonathan Burkhardt in the starting lineup, while Maximilian Mittelstadt and Nick Voltmadhe were absent from the start, while Serge Gnabry was completely excluded from the match list.

Florian Wirtz was also included alongside Burkhardt on the front line, in an attacking duo that the German team relied on to create danger after Wirtz scored against Serbia.

For his part, Serbian coach Ivan Jovanovic of Greece made four changes to the squad that blew a two-goal lead against the Netherlands (2-2), at a time when Christos Tzoulis, the English Arsenal player, missed the match after he was forced to leave the field after only 18 minutes in the last match, following an injury that appeared to be at the level of the hamstring.

The hosts entered the match strongly, as Liverpool left-back Kostantinos Tsimikas raced down the left side before sending a perfect cross that found national team captain Giorgos Masouras waiting for it, as he rose high and converted a powerful header, but goalkeeper Jonas Urbig was on time to block it (4).

A goal for the German team was canceled by Burkadt, who passed the goalkeeper and put his ball into the goal, but the referee returned to the video assistant referee (VAR) to cancel the goal due to a violation at the beginning of the attack (34).

Wirtz sought to leave his mark on the match after preparing the ball for Derry Sherhant, who fired a powerful shot with his right from outside the area that passed along the left post (43).

The visitors continued their efforts to open the scoring, as Shirhant passed a dangerous cross that passed the right post (65).

The Greek team responded with a header through captain Masouras after a dangerous cross, but it went over the goal (76).

In the second match at Philips Stadium in Eindhoven, the Dutch national team achieved its second victory under the leadership of its new Spanish coach, Xavi Hernandez, by defeating its guest, the Serbian national team, 2-1, to take the lead.

Ton Koopmeiners (32) and Joshua Zirkzee (72) scored for the Orange team, after Mihailo Cvetkovic equalized for the Serbs before the end of the first half (35).

The Dutch team previously defeated Serbia with the same score in the second round, while it tied with Germany 2-2 at the opening, then with Greece in the last round with the same score.

Portugal became the first team to qualify for the quarter-finals, with its renewed victory over its host Norway, 2-1, on Sunday in Porto, in the fourth group of the first level of the European Nations League, maintaining its perfect record in the fifth edition of the tournament that holds its title.

Portugal began its campaign with its new coach, Jorge Jesus, by defeating Wales 1-0, then defeated Norway in its stronghold and inflicted its first defeat among its fans since March 22, in a friendly match against the Czechs (1-2), by defeating them last Sunday 2-1.

Then the “Seleção” of Europe beat Denmark 4-2 away from home without its absolute star, Cristiano Ronaldo, who left the camp as a result of not participating against Norway in the Oslo match, before achieving his fourth victory on Sunday, which allowed him to secure his ticket to the quarter-finals for the fifth time in five appearances since the start of the continental tournament.

Portugal clinched its ticket two rounds before the end as a result of Denmark's victory over its host Wales with a goal by Rasmus Hoylund from a penalty kick (75), raising its score to 6 points in second place, compared to three each for Wales and Norway.

By losing for the second time in seven days to Portugal, Norway remained without a victory over the latter since its only victory in 13 matches in September 2010 in the 2012 European Cup qualifiers.

On Sunday, Haaland and his teammates suffered their third defeat in this group, after they also lost in the last round away from home to Wales (1-2).

If Portugal continues its journey in this manner, it seems likely to retain the title it won in 2025 for the second time, after the first in 2019 in the inaugural edition, at the expense of Spain on penalties after a 2-2 draw in regular and extra time.

At “Estadio Dragao”, where they achieved their tenth consecutive victory in this stronghold, the title holders were the better side, as they threatened their guests’ goal on several occasions, whether through Joao Cancelo, Gonzalo Ramos, or captain Bruno Fernandez, but without success.

Jesus' men paid the price as they conceded in the 36th minute with a wonderful goal scored by defender Christopher Iyer with a powerful shot from outside the area following a free kick.

But the Portuguese response came quickly with an even more amazing goal by Al Hilal player Cancelo with a missile shot he fired with his right foot from outside the area following a side throw (38).

The first half ended with this result, then the two sides exchanged opportunities in the second, but without reaching the net, until the 79th minute, when Gonzalo Ramos, the Milan player, won the 12th point after a perfect longitudinal pass from Vitinha to Joao Felix, the Al-Nasr player, who reversed the ball to the Italian Milan striker, and he shot it into the net.

Portugal completed the final minutes with ten players as a result of Francisco Conceicao being sent off with two cautions as a result of his objection to the referee’s decision (86).