Chelsea players
starred for France and Germany in their respective UEFA Nations League wins on Saturday
while Spanish defender Sergio Ramos missed two penalties on a night he set the
record for most international appearances by a European player.

Chelsea midfielder
N’Golo Kante thumped home only his second international goal as France exacted
revenge on Portugal for their loss in the Euro 2016 final.

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Kante scored the
only goal of the night in Lisbon on 53 minutes to clinch top spot for France in
their group and book a place in next year’s finals.

The world
champions have a three-point advantage over Portugal in Group 3 of League A
ahead of next week’s encounter with Sweden in Paris, although their superior
head-to-head record guarantees them top spot.

“It’s very
nice to see them snatch the win. It’s deserved. We’ve fulfilled our objective
of finishing first,” AFP quoted France coach Dider Deschamps as saying.

Meanwhile, Kante’s
Chelsea teammate Timo Werner bagged a brace as Germany came back from an early
setback to record a 3-1 win against Ukraine in Leipzig.

The former RB Leipzig
striker spent four years at the Red Bull Arena and marked his return with his
14th and 15th international goals.

Germany are
now undefeated in their last 12 matches and are top of the table in League A’s
Group 4, a point ahead of Spain with the two sides set to meet in Seville on
Tuesday.

“I had four
good years here and it was fun to come back and win,” Werner said.

Ukraine grabbed
an early lead through Roman Yaremchuk, although the hosts rallied back with
winger Leroy Sane’s smart finish before Werner scored either side of half-time
to seal a deserved win.

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In Basel,
Ramos made history as he pulled clear of legendary Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi
Buffon’s tally to become the most-capped European player as he made his 177th appearance for Spain.

However, it
was a night to forget for the 34-year-old, as he saw his first penalty saved by
goalkeeper Yann Sommer before missing the second as he attempted a ‘Paneka’.

Having scored 25 in a row from the spot, Ramos’ misses cost Spain dearly as
they were held to a 1-1 draw and will now have to beat Germany in order to
qualify for the final four.

“Sergio’s
numbers for penalties are out of this world. If there had been a third penalty,
he would have taken that one as well,” Spain coach Luis Enrique said.

Remo
Freuler gave the Swiss a 26th-minute lead but they had Nico Elvedi sent off for
conceding the second penalty with 11 minutes left.

Spain finally found an
equaliser in the 89th minute as Moreno capitalised on a tiring Swiss defence by
converting Sergio Reguilon’s cross.

After losing all four of their opening
games in the Nations League, Sweden finally found some form in Solna, beating
World Cup runners-up Croatia 2-1.

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The Swedes, whose coach Janne Andersson has
been sidelined with coronavirus, were 2-0 up at half-time.

Juventus star Dejan
Kulusevski opened his international account in the 36th minute when the
20-year-old controlled a long pass from Mikael Lustig before scoring.

Defender
Marcus Danielson, who plays his club football in China with Dalian Pro, headed
in the second from a corner in first-half stoppage time.

Danielson had the
misfortune to put through his own goal with eight minutes left after making
contact with an Ivan Perisic header.

Croatia had beaten the Swedes 2-1 in their
first meeting but they arrived for the return without midfielder Marcelo
Brozovic and defender Domagoj Vida, both of whom had tested positive for
COVID-19.

The coronavirus pandemic also saw UEFA cancel Sunday’s match between
Romania and Norway after Norwegian authorities banned the squad from travelling
to Bucharest due to a COVID-19 case.

Norway’s health minister had ordered the
squad not to travel after full-back Omar Elabdellaoui, who plays for
Galatasaray in Turkey, tested positive for coronavirus.