LISBON \/ LANCY
\nPortugal and Spain picked up victories in the Nations League on Thursday to set up a battle between the Iberian neighbors for a spot in the Final Four.
\nPortugal took sole possession of the lead in Group 2 of the top-tier League A by defeating the Czech Republic 2-0, while Spain earned a first win and moved into second place by edging past struggling Switzerland 1-0 in Geneva.
\nPortugal, the inaugural champion in 2019, is two points ahead of Spain and three in front of the Czechs after three matches. Only the group winners make it to the Final Four, while the last-placed teams will be relegated.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s still wide open,\u201d Portugal coach Fernando Santos said.
\nIt was the second consecutive win for Cristiano Ronaldo\u2019s Portugal after it had opened with a draw against Spain, last year\u2019s runner-up to France.
\nThe Spaniards ended their winless run with the victory over last-place Switzerland, which has lost all its matches. The Swiss hadn\u2019t been beaten at home in eight years in a run of 23 matches.
\n\u201cProfessional soccer is about results,\u201d Spain coach Luis Enrique said. \u201cWe were able to impose our style.\u201d
\nPortugal opened the scoring with Jo\u00e3o Cancelo\u2019s low shot from a narrow angle in the 33rd minute, and Gon\u00e7alo Guedes added to the lead five minutes later from inside the area after an assist by Bernardo Silva.
\nDefender Pepe made his 127th appearance, joining Luis Figo for third-best all-time for Portugal. The duo are behind the 145 appearances of Jo\u00e3o Moutinho and the 188 of Ronaldo.
\nSpain got on the board in the 13th minute with Pablo Sarabia redirecting a cross by Marcos Llorente for a goal that had to be confirmed by video review to check for offside.
\nPortugal will close play in the June international window in Switzerland on Sunday, while Spain host the Czech Republic.
\nIn the second-tier League B, Erling Haaland drew a blank in Norway\u2019s 0-0 home draw with Slovenia. Haaland arrived as one of the Nations League\u2019s leading scorers with three goals.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LISBON \/ LANCY Portugal and Spain picked up victories in the Nations League on Thursday to set up a battle between the Iberian neighbors for a spot in the Final Four. Portugal took sole possession of the lead in Group 2 of the top-tier League A by defeating the Czech Republic 2-0, while Spain earned […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":265662,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[8415,8414,4700],"class_list":{"0":"post-265627","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-nations-league","9":"tag-portugal","10":"tag-spain"},"yoast_head":"\n