England and Spain had very different World Cup campaigns. The English surprised nearly everyone as the Three Lions finished fourth with a remarkable run to the semifinals. Spain sacked manager Julen Lopetegui on the eve of the tournament.
It sent the Spanish into meltdown and led to their round of 16 loss to Russia. Now, Spain will attempt to right the ship with an ageing squad under the leadership of former Barcelona coach Luis Enrique. England will aim to show the world of football their World Cup campaign wasn’t a fluke and continue on building a capable national team.
The two European nations will meet on Saturday night at Wembley in their first ever UEFA Nations League match. England and Spain were drawn in League A Group 4 alongside Croatia. It will be a very difficult group to survive and one of the three nations will be relegated to League B at the end.
England go into the fixture with injuries. Liverpool’s Adam Lallana once again suffered an injury setback. He has withdrawn from the squad and returned to his club team for treatment.
Manchester City winger Raheem Sterling, who has started the Premier League season in fine form, withdrew as well. Gareth Southgate will still have numerous stars from England’s World Cup campaign returning. Harry Kane has been firing in goals for club team Tottenham and will be expected to lead the line on Saturday.
Enrique has a few player worries of his own to deal with. Atletico Madrid striker Diego Costa isn’t available. Meanwhile, Spain saw three of its treble winning stars from some years ago retire post-World Cup. Gerard Pique, who looked well off the pace at the World Cup, is now gone along with Andres Iniesta, and David Silva.
Centre-back Sergio Ramos may now be paired with Barcelona rival Sergio Busquets. Not a natural centre-back, Busquets could be a liability if played in the back four. Enrique has already received some flak for his player selection and man-management.
He omitted Barcelona’s Jordi Alba from the side in favour of Chelsea’s Marcos Alonso. The latter is having a fine start to the season and is deserving of his place. Meanwhile, Enrique has banned video games and mobile phones from all players.
Despite England making it to the World Cup semifinals, they overachieved and relied far too heavily on Kane. The defence was error-prone and the competition they played wasn’t the highest quality. Spain may have failed in grand style, but they are better than the teams England faced in Russia. Enrique will lead his team to a win to kickstart the campaign and his reign as Spain manager.