MADRID, 19 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Spain was proclaimed champion of the UEFA Nations League last Sunday after defeating the Croatian team in the penalty shootout (5-4), thanks to the two penalties saved by Unai Simón and the goal by Dani Carvajal in the decisive kick, in a game in which none of the teams was able to open the scoring in the 120 minutes of play played.
Spain has had to wait 11 years to be able to celebrate a National Team title. La Roja had not touched metal since Euro 2012, it had to be the League of Nations 2023, with Luis de la Fuente on the bench and with Rodri as boss on the field, the tournament that returns success to Spain.
A Spain that, like that of Aragonés and Del Bosque did with Xavi, plays at the pace imposed by Rodri. The Madrid midfielder is experiencing the best moment of his career. This season he has won everything with City (Premier League, FA Cup and Champions League) and now he has just lifted his first title with the National Team. In addition, the Atlético squad player has been the protagonist of all the successes. In the Champions League, he was chosen as the best player in the final, as well as the best in the competition, and the same has happened in the League of Nations, where he has been the MVP of the two Final Four games and the best of the competition.
Individual awards that, of course, are supported by statistical data at the level of the best midfielders in history. Rodri has been the player who has completed the most passes in the Final Four (184) and is also the player with the highest accuracy in his shipments (94%), having missed only 12 of the 196 passes he has attempted. The man from City has also been the third player with the most balls recovered (17) just behind Modric (20) and Sutalo (19), and despite not being a striker, only Morata (9) has finished Rodri more times ( 8).
But the key to Spain’s triumph has not been just Rodri. Luis de la Fuente has slightly modified the non-negotiable style of ‘tiki-taka’. Spain continues to dominate the matches, but now it is more vertical. Luis de la Fuente’s team has averaged 6.2 passes per possession in this Final Four, compared to the 8.3 average of Luis Enrique’s Spain in the World Cup in Qatar. Verticality that translates into less ball possession, 62% in the Final Four compared to 76% in the World Cup, more shots (19 per game in the Final Four compared to 12 in the World Cup) and faster finishing play, going from one shot every 76 passes in Qatar 22 to one every 33 passes in the Nations League finals.
A variation of the style that has brought with it a modification in the scheme. Spain has gone from Luis Enrique’s 4-3-3 to De la Fuente’s 4-2-3-1. Spain has returned, as happened in the World Cup in South Africa, to the double pivot, gaining in balance and protecting the figure of the defensive pivot. Of course, in exchange for giving up a greater capacity for creation and mobility of the interiors, which makes the figure of the attacking midfielder more important.
Small variations and many coincidences between the Spain of Luis Enrique and that of De la Fuente that speak of the tactical richness that current football possesses. We will have to wait and give more time (De la Fuente has only directed 4 games) to see if the idea of the new coach sinks in and lasts over time, or if, on the contrary, the return of players like Pedri, is more similar to the from Qatar.