An eventful second leg of the UEFA Nations League quarter final fixtures produced a combined 21 goals as Portugal and France overcame deficits, while Germany hold off Italy to prevent disaster.

After a first leg round which saw the underdogs refuse to be blown away, with some of them like Denmark and Croatia establishing an advantage with wins on home soil against Portugal and France respectively.

The reverse fixtures demanded the favourites to be cautious as non of them really had it their way in the first legs, but with the tie still very much up for the taking, it was all out on the attack for each of these teams, leading to an enjoyable evening of football in Europe.

From Germany's thriller with Italy to France's penalty drama, here is how the quartet of Germany, Portugal, Spain and France secured their tickets for the semi finals of the UEFA Nations League.

How the UEFA Nations League Quarter-finals Were Decided

Germany Hold off Italy to Prevent Disaster

After coming from behind to establish a 2-1 lead in the first leg, Germany kicked off the return leg Dortmund as favourites, and strode to a very impressive start by taking the lead on the half hour from a Joshua Kimmich penalty.

Tim Kleindienst, who scored the equalizer in the first leg was brought down from behind by Alessandro Buongiorno after the striker was played through by Leon Goretzka. Kimmich stepped up, finding the bottom corner despite Gianluigi Donnarumma diving the right way.

The lead was doubled six minutes later in an unusual circumstance. After Donnarumma made a brilliant stop the deny Kleindienst, the goalkeeper got carried away and Kimmich took the resulting corner quickly for Jamal Musiala to head home for 2-0 with every other player on the pitch caught out.

Joshua Kimmich's cross on the stroke of half-time was met by the header of Kleindienst, who powered his header on goal. Although Donnarumma made cleared it, the goal line technology confirmed it crossed the line, making it 3-0 for the host on the night, and 5-1 on aggregate.

However, it wasn't game over as Italy scored three second half goals, of which Moise Kean bagged a brace, scoring in the 49th and 69th minutes, before Giacomo Raspadori leveled the score on the night with a stoppage time penalty.

It finished 3-3 on the night, with Germany progressing 5-4 on aggregate, reaching the UEFA Nations League semi final for the first time in history and well as becoming the tenth different nation to reach the stage of the competition.

Portugal Humbled Denmark in Extra Time 

The 2019 winner got off to a worse start possible as Cristiano Ronaldo saw his sixth minute penalty saved by Kasper Schmeichel, leaving the visitors with their 1-0 advantage from the first leg intact.

Denmark continued to defend resolutely but the deadlock was eventually broken after the half hour in a rather unfortunate fashion, as defender, Joachim Andersen steered a Bruno Fernandes' corner kick into his own net.

With the tie level on aggregate, Denmark started to get on the ball more in search for the crucial go-ahead goal. However, it was Portugal who scored again just before half-time, only for Cristiano Ronaldo to be denied by the offside flag.

Denmark hit back four minutes before the hour mark. Christian Eriksen's corner, aimed for the backpost was met but Rasmus Kristensen, who guided his header across goal and into the back of the net.

Cristiano Ronaldo made up for his penalty miss by restoring the host's lead in the 72nd minute, firing home from a narrow angle after Schmeichel had unconvincingly dealt with a Bruno Fernandes' shot.

The visitors would not be blown away, and dragged themselves back ahead of aggregate four minutes later. Ruben Dias was caught in possession after a sloppy play. Patrick Dorgu picked up the ball and layed it for Eriksen to tap home from close range.

With Portugal down and heading out on aggregate, Roberto Martinez introduced Trincao, who scored a beautiful goal five minutes after coming on in the 81st minute to level the tie on aggregate and force extra time.

Portugal went on to score two more in extra time, with Trincao scoring in the first half to complete his brace, while another substitute, Goncalo Ramos scored his first international goal since March last year to complete a 5-2 rout.

Trincao scored in the first-half of extra time, placing a low shot between a defender and Schmeichel into the back of the net after the goalscorer parried a Goncalo Ramos' shot into a space in the box.

The second goal of extra time came towards the end of the second half. Jota retrieved possession in midfield and played to Trincao on the right before making his way into the box. The Sporting CP winger returns the favour to the Liverpool forward, and Jota sends a low cross into the center of the box, where Ramos applied a simple finish.

The comeback win means Portugal has now set up a semi final meeting with Germany at the Allianz Arena in Munich come June.

Spain Broke The Netherlands Jinx on Penalties 

It was back-to-back thriller between Spain and the Netherlands but it was the European champions who came out on top after 120 minutes having won a penalty shootout by 5-4.

It was a rollercoaster from start to finish. Starting from the moment Nico Williams gave Spain the lead in the tie in the first leg to Pedri Gonzalez scoring the decisive penalty in the second leg.

Spain took a very early lead in the return leg through Mikel Oryazabal, who converted from the spot after drawing a foul off Jean Paul van Hecke in the sixth minute.

The Netherlands restored parity with a penalty of their own six minutes before the hour mark. Memphis Depay won the penalty after he was dragged by Robin Le Normand in the box. The Corinthians forward stepped up and scored emphatically.

Span's lead was restored at the end of the third quarter as Mikel Oryazabal completed his brace following some brilliant individual run by Nico Williams, which saw him took out a host of Dutch defenders.

He unselfishly passed the ball to the Real Sociedad striker, whose initial effort was saved by Verbruggen, but kept his cool to control and head home from close range on a second attempt.

The Netherlands hit back again through Ian Maatsen, who fired a ferocious shot into the top corner after being set up by substitute, Xavi Simons in the 79th minute.

The game headed for extra time and Lamine Yamal delivered in a world class moment to give Barcelona the lead for the third time on the night. The teenager beat the Netherlands' offside line to get on the end of a Dean Huijsen's long ball, took out his marker before curling a wonderful strike into the left corner.

The Netherlands, who would not succumb to defeat in open play found themselves a way back into the contest in the second half of extra time. Xavi Simons won and took a penalty to make it 3-3, sending the game into penalty shootout after 120 minutes.

Noa Lang was first to miss, but the Netherlands recovered after Lamine Yamal's lame penalty was kept out by Verbruggen. Donyell Malen missed for the visitors at sudden death and Pedri kept his cool to score the decisive kick, sending Spain into the last four.

The result means the European champions got the better of the Netherlands for the first time since the 1-0 win in the 2010 FIFA World Cup final in South Africa, while they continue their quest to retain the crown they won in the summer of 2023.

France Complete Impressive Comeback On Penalties

Of all the eight teams, France had the most difficult hurdle to overcome in a bid to reach the semi finals, after succumbing to a 2-0 defeat away to Croatia in the first leg. Yet, with the crop of talents at his disposal, Didier Deschamps was only down, never out.

They dominated their opponent in Saint Denis but failed to convert any of their chances at halftime, as Croatia defended with intent, and Dominik Livakovic alerted to every situation.

The host eventually break the deadlock through a Michael Olise free-kick seven minutes after the restart. The Bayern Munich man curled his strike into the top corner, leaving the goalkeeper rooted to a spot.

With the goal, Olise became the first player to score a direct free-kick for the France national team since Paul Pogba in a 3-1 friendly win over Russia in March 2018, ending a run of seven years drought.

With the score 2-1 on aggregate, France grew in belief, and continued to put more pressure on the visitors' defence. They got their reward ten minutes from the end of normal time through man on form, Ousmane Dembele.

After William Saliba's sliding tackled help them keep an attack going, the ball ended up with Kylian Mbappé, who played a through ball to Olise on the right side of the box. The winger made his way to the byline before sending a cutback across goal, where Dembele attacked first time to level the score on aggregate.

There were no further goals even in extra time and the game went to penalties, were France dramatically won after Dayot Upamecano scored the decisive kick in their seventh to seal a 5-4 win.

Jules Kounde missed the chance to make it 3-1 to France after Martin Baturina and Franjo Ivanovic had both missed for Croatia. France eventually got the chance to win it at 4-3, but Theo Hernandez fired his kick well over the bar.

Josip Stanisic would eventually emerge as the culprit in the shootout as he was denied by Mike Maignan, who made his second save of the shootout, leaving France with another chance to seal the win.

Dayot Upamecano stepped up and left Livakovic with no chance whatsoever, sending his kick high and hard into the top corner to seal the win for France, who were very much the better side on the night, into the semi finals.

They will take on Spain for a place in the final in the MHP Area, home of Stuttgart in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, come June to determine who takes on Portugal or Germany in the final later in the same month.

Player of the round

Joshua Kimmich stood out, not in one but both quarter-finals fixtures. The Germany's stand-in captain led by example, assisting both goals as his side came from a goal down to beat Italy away from home in the first leg.

He was also directly involved in all goals as the first time semi finalist took a 3-0 lead in the second leg, scoring the third after setting up the first two.

Five goal involvement means he is joint first for goal contributions in the UEFA Nations League A, alongside Cristiano Ronaldo, while he leads the way on assists with five, one more than nearest player, Nuno Mendes.