Madrid, September 27 (BNA): Coach Luis Enrique tried to remain optimistic about Spain’s chances of advancing in the Nations League after a disappointing loss at home to Switzerland.
After all, La Roja can still secure a place in the finals with a win in Portugal on Tuesday.
“We consider it a final,” Luis Enrique said on Monday, two days after a 2-1 loss to Switzerland, Spain relegated from first to second in Group A2 ahead of the crucial game in Braga. “It is positive to reach the last round with the possibility of winning the set.”
But beating Portugal is not something Spain has been able to do lately. The Iberian neighbors have drawn a draw in their last four matches, including friendlies, and Spain has not won Portugal in nearly two decades, according to the Associated Press.
Her last victory over Portugal came on penalties in the semi-finals of the European Championship 2012, and before that she won in the round of 16 of the 2010 World Cup in a match in which Portugal complained of offside on David Villa’s winning goal in the second half.
In Portugal, Spain have not had a win since their 3-0 win in a friendly match in 2003, when Fernando Torres made his Spain debut, and it wasn’t long before Cristiano Ronaldo started playing for Portugal.
“It’s all part of football,” Luis Enrique said. “We’ve had three games lately that we’ve played well but we didn’t win and it ended in a draw.”
Teams have drawn four successive times since coach Fernando Santos took over Portugal after the 2014 World Cup, including a thrilling 3-3 match to open their campaign in the 2018 World Cup group stage.
“We just have to focus on winning instead of reaching the quarter-finals,” Santos said on Monday. “I want the players to face Spain with merit, as they do with all competitors. Do that and we will always be closer to where we want to go.”
Spain needs to win after experiencing 22 unbeaten matches at home to Switzerland on Saturday. Portugal beat the Czech Republic 4-0 to finish first and get a chance to advance with a draw on Tuesday.
Only the winners of the group advance to the quarter-finals in June. Portugal has 10 points, two points behind Spain. Switzerland has six points, two ahead of the Czech Republic ahead of their game in Switzerland in an effort to avoid relegation.
Spain is looking to make a second successive appearance in the last four after finishing second against France last year. At the time, he also needed a win on the final day to advance to the quarter-finals, and he did so by shocking Germany 6-0 at home.
Luis Enrique said he does not expect many changes in the squad for the match against Portugal despite Saturday’s loss, although he admitted the team had to improve their defense on set pieces, which is how Switzerland scored their two goals.
Portugal, winners of the inaugural Nations League in 2019, may see the return of striker Joao Felix, who was unavailable for the match against the Czech Republic due to injury. He returned to his teammates for training on Sunday.