Highlight last post and limit number per page

[keneso]

Hi

By googling and reading I got a code to have the last post in a row-column by itself, and the others in following rows and columns.

Problem is I can’t seem to be able to add custom class to the last post (first row), and avoid a unnecessary class there (though this is really minor and irrelevant). Also the thumbnial is not showing.

What I have

<div class="row fz-v-spacer">
<?php while( have_posts() ): the_post();
	if($i==0): $column_xs = 12; $column_sm = 12; $class = '';
	elseif($i > 0 && $i <= 2): $column_xs = 12; $column_sm = 6; $class = ' second-row-padding';
	elseif($i > 2): $column = 4; $class = ' third-row-padding';
	endif;
	?>
	<div class="col-xs-<?php echo $column_xs; ?> col-sm-<?php echo $column_sm; echo $class; ?> fz-blog-post-wrap">
	<?php
	// Check if the post has a Post Thumbnail assigned to it, if yes show it, and add class, alt, and title to it
	if ( has_post_thumbnail() ) {
		the_post_thumbnail( 'thumbnail', array(
		'alt'	=> trim(strip_tags( $post->post_title )),
		'title'	=> trim(strip_tags( $post->post_title )),
		'class' => 'img-responsive fz-thumb-img',
		));
	}
	?>
		<div class="fz-blog-post">
		<?php the_title( sprintf('<h1 class="fz-post-title"><a href="%s">', esc_url( get_permalink() ) ),'</a></h1>' ); ?>
		<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
		</div>
	</div>

<?php $i++; endwhile; ?>
</div>

What I would like to have, with a limit of 9 posts per page (including the latest one) in case of 2 posts per row (like the below sample), or 10 posts limit in case of 3 posts per row (<div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-4">)

<div class="row fz-hv-padding-9">
	<div class="col-xs-12">
		Last post
	</div>
</div>
<div class="row fz-hv-padding-9">
	<div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-6">
		Other post
	</div>
	<div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-6">
		Other post
	</div>
</div>

The above to be structured like this for the latest post, and the other ones.
The latest in the full width div

<div class="row fz-hv-padding-9">
	<div class="col-xs-12 col-sm-3">
		Thumbnail
	</div>
	<div class="col-xs-12  col-sm-9">
		<h2 class="fz-post-title"><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
		<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
	</div>
</div>

The other posts in the half/third width div

<div class="row fz-hv-padding-9">
	<div class="col-xs-12">
		Thumbnail
	</div>
	<div class="col-xs-12">
		<h2 class="fz-post-title"><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
		<?php the_excerpt(); ?>
	</div>
</div>

I tried different codes (rearranged/created by myself - not a coder), and results were always blank page, if you want to see my efforts I can post it, but it’d be a waste.

Kinda OT, but which of these two are better, or they are just different ways of doing the same?

<h2 class="fz-post-title"><a href="<?php the_permalink(); ?>"><?php the_title(); ?></a></h2>
<?php the_title( sprintf('<h1 class="fz-post-title"><a href="%s">', esc_url( get_permalink() ) ),'</a></h1>' ); ?>