Spain didn’t get the win they needed to assure qualification but this was Luis Enrique’s side passing their Bayern Munich test and it will only increase belief that they can go all the way in Qatar.
Spanish sides have suffered at the hands of German teams in Europe this season with all four losing to one in the Champions League. But no team has suffered more than Barcelona at the hands of Bayern and this Luis Enrique team is built on five Barça players.
The veterans Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets, and the kids Gavi, Pedri and Ferran Torres plus substitute full-back Alejandro Balde all suffered this season at the hands of Bayern who beat Barcelona in the Champions League 5-0 on aggregate over two legs. Last season it was even worse with Barça beat 3-0 twice in the group stage. And the torment goes right the way back to 2020 – Busquets and Alba will still have nightmares over the 8-2 loss.
There were six Bayern players in the German line-up last night but Spain were not fazed. In Europe the likes of Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich make Pedri, Gavi and Busquets looks like two kids playing with their dad in midfield. Swap the Barça shirts for Spain ones and it’s the Spanish midfielders who look like giants.
The difference between the way those three play for Spain and the way they play for Barcelona has been noted by the Barça board who will monitor Luis Enrique’s situation at the end of the tournament. He does not have a new contract and could walk away after the World Cup.
Barça want to stick with Xavi but he has admitted that if they fail to win anything this season someone else will come in and former Barça boss Luis Enrique has shown himself capable of getting the best out of not just Gavi, Pedri and Busquets but also Jordi Alba and Ferran Torres.
Alba has been written off at Barcelona. He is the expensive veteran they have tried to push towards the exit. He has become third choice behind Balde and Marcos Alonso but he remains one of the best attacking full-backs in Europe as his assist for Alvaro Morata's goals showed.
Barcelona tried to force through the sale of Alba to Inter Milan in the close season but he resisted and not having played too much this season he looks fresh as he was one he scored one of the four goals that beat Italy in the 2012 Euro finals.
Torres is another success story for Luis Enrique. He has admitted he would have to take him off immediately if he ever did the dummy in the mouth goal celebration – he is currently the boyfriend of the Spain coach’s daughter Sira – but last night he took him off late in the second half the German defence tired, only after he had seen him once again perform better for Spain than he does his club.
Spain are not Barcelona, Luis Enrique for the moment is not Xavi. It was notable last night that Germany seemed happy enough with the draw. Once they had equalized there was no desperate charge forward in numbers to get the winner.
It’s because they believe Spain will beat Japan. It’s because they feared a late Spain winner. It’s because they respect Spain, in a way at club level their biggest club Bayern have long since stopped respecting Barcelona. That’s a win for the Spanish, and especially for their coach Luis Enrique.