KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany (Reuters) -Germany dominated the first leg of their Nations League final against Spain on Friday but could not find the back of the net as they were held to a scoreless draw ahead of Tuesday's second leg in Madrid.
As the Germans attacked in wave after wave, Spanish keeper Cata Coll was outstanding in the first half, throwing herself around her penalty area to cut off angles and block shots, much to the frustration of the home fans.
Germany forward Klara Buehl reached deep into her bag of tricks to try to break the deadlock, but her threatening dribbles and fizzing shots could not get the better of the Spanish defence, and the Germans were almost sucker-punched when Esther Gonzalez hit the woodwork for Spain just after the break.
Despite rain falling steadily through the second half,Buehl never relented and she finally got a shot past Coll, only to see it bounce back off the foot of the left-hand post and away to safety.
Winger Jule Brand followed up that effort with a shot that skimmed off the top of the crossbar in the 76th minute but despite 19 attempts on goal for Germany and nine for the visitors, neither managed to score, leaving the tie delicately balanced ahead of the second leg.
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor, editing by Pritha Sarkar)
