Spain finish Nations League groups with late late show against Switzerland

Spain 3-2 Switzerland

Spain finished Group 4 in League A of the UEFA Nations League with a fifth win in six over Tenerife as Heliodoro Rodriguez Lopez was treated to five goals. La Roja has qualified for the quarter-finals as the top seed.

The match saw Luis de la Fuente rotate his entire squad after their win over Denmark, and saw the debuts of Samu Omorodion and Aitor Paredes, as well as a rare start for Alex Remiro in goal. Spain dominated early, without necessarily creating much more than half-chances for Alvaro Morata and Nico Williams.

However, the former broke the game open after a nice ball from Oscar Mingueza, who was making his first start, got him behind the defense. Morata lifted it over the defender and cut into the box before being clattered from behind. He was about to take the penalty, but after chants from the crowd, he unselfishly passed the ball to Pedri, who saw Yvon Mvogo save on his right. Fortunately for Pedri, Spain took the lead at the break after Williams' effort was blocked on the line, and Yeremy Pino followed to finish from a corner.

Pedri and Marc Casado were both hurt at points but soldiered on, in Pedri's case until he was replaced by Pablo Barrios, who was also making his senior debut. Switzerland struggled to threaten much, but saw the door open when Joel Monteiro robbed Paredes and shot his one-on-one, now against Robert Sánchez in goal, wide. Encouraged, he soon beat Alejandro Grimaldo and then Paredes in the penalty area and smuggled the ball between Sánchez's legs from the byline for an unexpected equalizer.

However, La Roja responded quickly through Bryan Gil, who was the sharpest in the penalty area from the bench to save a loose ball and effectively fire home for his first international goal. At the other end, Bryan Zaragoza wreaked havoc every time he got the ball, but without five minutes to go he caused problems. He stuck a leg out in his own box, and Andi Zeqiri sent Sánchez the wrong way to level things again.

However, Zaragoza's crossing and dribbling caused problems, and it is to his credit that he forced the mistake in stoppage time. Once again far too quick for the Swiss defenders, he earned his own penalty, which was knocked down in the 93rd minute. It was Zaragoza who also finished it off and took back the win for La Roja.

Although Paredes struggled at times and Spain were wasteful and loose at points, it was another largely dominant performance from De la Fuente's side. Players such as Casado, Mingueza and Zaragoza in particular felt at home on the international stage and reinforced the idea that Spain has sufficient depth to fall back on.