Germany opened their 2016 European Championship with a narrow 2-1 win over ten-man Scotland at the Allianz Arena, while Portugal suffered a shock 0-1 defeat the hands of Albania.
The 2014 World Cup Champions looked a little nervous following their 2-4 loss to Italy in a friendly fixture last Wednesday despite them dominating possession and creating numerous chances.
Thomas Muller opened the scoring very early on in the game, but Iketchi Anya equalised for Scotland close to the hour mark. Finally Muller added another in the later stages of the game, sealing the three points for Germany in their first 2016 Euros qualifying fixture.
After creating a number of chances in the opening stages of the game, the Germans finally went ahead through Muller, who found the nets with a close ranger header after getting at the end of a Sebastian Rudy cross.
German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer was only tested in the closing stages of the first half as he was forced to make good save by Ikechi Anya, who fired a half volley from the edge of the box.
Scotland got another good chance to level the score just after the break as Steven Naismith managed to create some space in the box. However, in the end, the Everton striker's effort was poor as the ball flew wide of the post.
Germany gave an immediate response when Marco Reus whipped the ball towards Andre Schurrle in box, but the Chelsea man was unable to make the chance count as he dragged his effort wide.
Scotland got a very good opportunity just before the hour mark when Anya delivered a cross towards Naismith, who was completedly unmarked at the far post. However, in the end, the Everton man was unable to make a clean contact with the half-volley as the ball slid wide.
The Scots finally grabbed the leveller in the 66th minute through Anya, who after receiving a good pass from Darren Fletcher, showed great composure to calmly slot the ball past Neuer.
However, Scotland joy was very short-lived as Muller restored Germany's after only four minutes. Charlie Mulgrew and James McArthur failed to clear from a corner and the ball fell kindly to Muller, who made no mistakes as he found the nets with a close range effort.
The match finally ended with Scotland being reduced to ten men in the dying minutes of the game. Mulgrew, who was booked in the 90th minute following his rash tackle on Reus, received a second yellow card in the third minute of extra time for kicking the into the stands after a free-kick decision was given against him.
Meanwhile, Portugal suffered a shock 0-1 defeat the hands of Albania in their opening Euro 2016 Group I fixture at the Dr. Magalhães Pessoa.
Bekim Balaj's early second half strike proved to be enough as Portugal, who were without the Cristiano Ronaldo, failed to break down Albania's organised defence.
The game started with Nani threatening to break the deadlock as he created a number of chances in the early stages of the match.
While his 6th minute free-kick was punched by Albania goalkeeper Etrit Berisha, the Sporting Lisbon man narrowly missed the target seven minutes later.
Nani, who is currently on loan at Sporting Lisbon from Manchester United, then sent in another excellent cross towards Antonio Eder but the forward's header was wide.
Vieirinha then managed to get to the end of a Joao Moutinho free-kick, but his effort was easily saved by an alert Berisha.
Just before the break, Portugal created another chance when Nani whipped a cross into the box, but the Real Madrid defender's defender went wide of the target.
After the break, Albania silenced the home fans as they broke the deadlock in the 52nd minute through Balaj.
Odise Roshi sent a cross into the box towards Balaj, who did brilliant as he turned and fired a volley into the bottom right corner of the net.
Bento's desperately began looking for an equaliser but the Albanian defence managed to keep their nerves and hold on to the lead, recording a historic win over Portugal.
Other Results: Georgia 1-2 Republic of Ireland, Hungary 1-0 Northern Ireland, Denmark 2-1 Armenia, Gibraltar 0-7 Poland, Faroe Islands 1-3 Finland, Greece 0-1 Romania.
