It was a mixed bag for Celtic duo Liam Scales and Benjamin Nygren on Saturday night, with both players having been in national team action.
Scales started as part of a Republic of Ireland back three, and he and his teammates suffered a 1-0 defeat to Nations League group leaders Austria. The result means Ireland are third in their group and one point behind second-placed Kosovo. They will need to beat them in the final game to reach the promotion playoffs.
After the game, RTE rated the Ireland players, and Scales was given a 7/10, which was the highest rating of the three centre-backs.
They reasoned: "The Celtic defender was back in Linz three months after losing to LASK in the play-off round for the Champions League. There was no hangover, instead a commanding performance on the left of the back-three between Ryan Manning and Collins.
"One of his best, most rounded, displays for his country with his ability to defend and get forward when needed."
Scales is in fine form at the moment.
Elsewhere, Sweden beat Bosnia and Herzegovina to secure top spot in their Nations League group and secure promotion. Nygren was brought off the bench just after an hour, by which time the score was already 3-1, but Bosnia scored a couple of minutes later to step up their comeback bid. But that was it for the scoring.
In their assessment of each player, FotbollSkanalen said of the Celtic star: "Got into a position where Bosnia had momentum. Had to work mostly in defence where he lived very dangerously at one point."
In fairness, defending really isn't Nygren's game, and he's not the sort of player you would bring on with the score at 3-2, but he was brought on just before the goal, so it's bad luck on that front.
Sweden's final game is now a dead rubber for them, and it will be interesting to see if Graham Potter rings the changes.
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