Why Spain should be kicking themselves after Nations League final loss

The headlines will all point to a 40-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo winning yet another trophy, but the truth is that on Sunday night in the Nations League final, the Portuguese captain did little of note to get supporters excited.

Being in the right place at the right time to equalise for his country showcased that he hasn't lost the goalscoring touch that has served him well throughout his career, though it was his only shot on target and, in fact, his only touch in the Spain box in the 88 minutes he spent on the pitch before being replaced by Goncalo Ramos.

Cristiano Ronaldo's heat map for Portugal in the Nations League finalOpta by Stats Perform

He also had just 22 touches in the match and his pass accuracy of 75% was by far the worst of any player on the pitch.

Despite ending up on the losing side, Pedri's importance to the Spain side should really be the topic of conversation.

Pedri rose to the big occasion - again

The Barcelona man once again rose to the big occasion - unlike club mate Lamine Yamal - and an astonishing 52 completed passes from 52 attempted gave him a perfect 100% completion stat.

La Roja also had three players that made over 100 passes in Marc Cucurella (106), Dean Huijsen (123) and Martin Zubimendi (118). 

Spain vs Portugal match ratingsFlashscore

Vitinha's 88 touches was, not unexpectedly, the most in the Portugal side and, impressively, 81 were passes of which 76 were completed for a more than respectable 93.8% completion.

The PSG man also managed 14 touches in the final third of the pitch, just two less than club and country teammate, Nuno Mendes, who kept Lamine in his pocket for virtually the entire game.

Lamine Yamal was disappointing

If everyone expected the 17-year-old wonderkid to provide the game's most memorable moments, they were left sorely disappointed.

One chance created all evening was essentially the total of his attacking threat in the final, Mendes content to sit off him and then match him stride for stride if Lamine thought about trying to take him on the outside.

Pedri, left, and Spain's Lamine Yamal stand on the pitch after the Nations League finalČTK / AP / Matthias Schrader

Frankly, it was a masterclass in how to defend the tricky winger, and it meant that the majority of Spain's attacks had to come from the opposite flank being patrolled by Cucurella and Nico Williams.

What's interesting to note is that only the Chelsea man had more tackles attempted, more tackles won and more interceptions than Lamine, perhaps suggesting that Luis de la Fuente had decided to keep the Barcelona man in a more defensive role. 

17 total duels - more than anyone on the pitch - would be a further persuasive argument that the manager had something different in mind for his star player on the night, but not even he could've predicted Lamine losing the ball on 21 separate occasions, again the most on show.

Luis de la Fuente has questions to answer

After the game, de la Fuente told supporters why he'd substituted the teenager.

“We wanted to give the game a bit more energy,” he explained. “The introduction of Yeremy Pino and Alex Baena gave us that energy, that control of the game that we had lost, as well as our finishing and shooting.

“He (Lamine) was tired because he has been competing since Thursday, there has been little rest. He has had a very difficult year. He is 17 years old and we have to behave accordingly.

“Today, we understood that it was time to replace him to give another player the opportunity to come in, so that he brings a little more energy.”

What the Spanish manager failed to articulate was why the brilliant Pau Cubarsi was left on the bench and why he played Oscar Mingueza at right-back given that the Celta Vigo man was unable to get back quickly enough whenever he made the decision to move upfield.

Spain on top in most aspects of play

Against a team that had 61.4% possession across the 120 minutes of play, Portugal should at least be given great credit for not only coming back twice, but also for keeping Spain at bay.

In terms of total dribbles (19) and 50.5% of duels won, the Selecao das Quinas were on top, but in every other metric the Spanish reigned supreme.

When you have 16 shots (to Portugal's seven - their least in a 2024/25 Nations League game), 755 accurate passes (to Portugal's 441), 13 tackles and interceptions won (to Portugal's eight) and more, then you simply have to end up on the winning side.

Pretty passing (812 was Spain's most on record in this season's tournament) and possession for the sake of it might look great for the connoisseur, but it doesn't always win football matches.

The reality is that Ronaldo may have done not much more than poke the ball home for a second equaliser, but that one instance helped his side to win the match.

Portugal were there for the taking

He, more than most given his longevity in the game, will understand that it's about playing to your own strengths whilst stopping the opposition from being able to execute their game plan and, on the night, Spain failed spectacularly to bring down a Portugal side that were there for the taking - particularly after La Roja went ahead twice in the match.

Indeed, Spain hadn't lost in the last 13 Nations League matches after taking the lead, and when leading at half-time in the 2024/25 Nations League, Spain had a record of W5 D1 L0, so they'll undoubtedly be kicking themselves that they weren't able to see this one through.

#Jason Pettigrove