NYON: Reigning Nations League champions Spain will play the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, while Friday’s draw for the knockout stage pitted Germany against Italy in another last-eight clash. In the other quarter-finals, former tournament winners France take on Croatia in a repeat of the 2018 World Cup final while Portugal, who were winners of the inaugural edition of the Nations League in 2019, will face Denmark. While the quarter-finals will be played over two legs home and away in March, the semi-finals are single legs which will take place in June, with the third-place playoff and final to be played three days later. European champions Spain, Portugal and Ger­many topped their groups without losing a game to go into the seeded teams’ pot along with France. Spain won the last edition of the Nations League after beating Croatia on penalties in the final. They also finished runners-up in the 2020-21 tournament. Spain have not played the Netherlands since a friendly match in November 2020. In their last competitive game, the Dutch thrashed the then-reigning world champions 5-1 at the 2014 World Cup. The winners of that game will play either Croatia or France in the semi-finals. France and Croatia have played each other four times in the Nations League. Portugal are also looking to win a second title and they still have Cristiano Ronaldo going strong. Ronaldo, who will be 40 when the knockout stage begins, leads the goal scoring charts in League A with five goals. Only Sweden’s Viktor Gyokeres (nine goals in League C), Norway’s Erling Haaland (seven goals in League B) and Romanian midfielder Razvan Marin (six goals in League C) have scored more than Ronaldo in the 2024-25 tournament. In the previous edition of the Nations League, only the top team from each group qualified for the knockout stage and went straight through to the semi-finals. The semi-finals are scheduled for June 4-5 with the final set for June 8 at a venue yet to be decided. Belgium must beat Ukraine in their play-off to stay in League A, while Scotland take on Euro 2004 champions Greece. The other League A/B play-offs are Turkey against Hungary, and Austria facing Serbia. The Republic of Ireland will play Bulgaria in their attempt to remain in League B.