While two Arsenal players enjoyed a successful night for their countries on Thursday, a major injury scare for another will have dominated Mikel Arteta's thoughts watching on at home.
For the first time, Arteta has a three-week international break to contend with, hoping his players eventually return in confident mood and fine health.
Christos Tzolis delivered on the first part of that equation, scoring for Greece as they came from behind to beat Serbia 2-1 away from home in the Nations League in Belgrade.
It was a smart finish from the winger, creating space for himself inside the box and then drilling a brilliant left-footed strike in off the post from a tight angle.
That was a welcome boost for Tzolis, who is still waiting to get off the mark for Arsenal. After a very bright pre-season and a couple of top performances against Manchester City and Coventry, his form had started to tail off slightly.
Martin Odegaard, meanwhile, provided two assists as Norway began their Nations League campaign with a 3-2 home win over Denmark in Oslo.
The Arsenal captain has been particularly impressive in the early weeks of the season and he carried that into the international break.
Odegaard slid a pass through to Fulham star Oscar Bobb for Norway's opener, before cutting the ball back after a clever corner routine for Erling Haaland in the second half.
There was far less positive news for Arsenal in Amsterdam, where Kai Havertz was forced off with a suspected hamstring issue against the Netherlands.
The German was sent for a scan after leaving the pitch in the 30th minute and Jurgen Klopp indicated that he will play no further part during this international window.
Speaking to RTL about the injuries to Havertz and Bayern Munich’s Jamal Musiala, Klopp said: "At the moment, both are on the MRI [scans].
"Of course, that's not great now. I just hope this is nothing bad. The boys are probably out for us, but hopefully then also relatively quickly available again."
Havertz had been due to only play the first two of Germany's four matches during this round of international fixtures, with new boss Klopp naming two separate squads.
However, it now looks likely that Havertz will return to Arsenal early and the club will be hoping that scans do not reveal a significant issue.
Jurrien Timber was not involved in that same match for the Netherlands.
He was one of three players in Xavi’s squad not included in the 23-man matchday group, as his fitness continues to be monitored.
Timber trained individually earlier this week before returning to full first-team activities on Wednesday.
His workload is being cautiously assessed, with Arsenal in contact with Dutch medical staff over his progress.
James Scanlon, who Arsenal signed from Manchester United on a free transfer over the summer, was also in international action on Thursday.
The 19-year-old midfielder played the first 45 minutes of Gibraltar's goalless friendly draw with Sao Tome and Principe.
