The Spanish coach hopes that Portugal will change on Tuesday, in Braga, “three or maybe four” footballers in relation to the eleven that thrashed the Czech Republic on Saturday, in the fifth day of Group A2 of the League of Nations.
“I don’t know if there will be changes, but I think it will be three or maybe four. [Fernando Santos] will change sides, even if Cancelo hasn’t played”, said Luis Enrique, making it clear: “The indisputable players will all play, for sure”.
In Braga, at the press conference prior to the match on matchday six of Group A2 of the League of Nations, which will decide the winner of the group, the ‘red’ coach praised Portugal and said he expected many difficulties.
“Portugal is a very talented team, with individuals and physical power. They have won important things, like the European [de 2016]. And good players always come out of his youth categories, as happens in Spain”, he explained.
According to Luis Enrique, Portugal is today, however, a team with “better-made players”, who act as “starters in teams from the Premier League and the Spanish League”.
As for Spain, the coach speaks of a “generational change” and recalls that seven of the players he called up for the matches against Switzerland (defeat 2-1) and Portugal could play in the next Under-21 European Championship.
Even so, Luis Enrique knows that, even at this stage, it is necessary to achieve results and, to achieve them, it is necessary that “there is no doubt” who is in charge.
“This is soccer. We won in Switzerland, which then hadn’t lost at home for a long time, and now this has happened to us. We have a very positive trajectory, and we have to accept each defeat as one more step”. our way,” he said.
The defeat against Switzerland does not remove Spain from the ‘final four’, but it forces them to win on Tuesday in Braga.
“It is a final that we have to win. It is very positive to come to this match in this situation. We are not going to speculate, because we never do.
Even so, Luis Enrique did not forget that, in the three previous confrontations with Portugal, he did not achieve this objective, staying for so many equalities.
“Three were good games. We couldn’t win any, not even Portugal. I think it will go along the same lines. We will try to control, to have control and possession of the ball, knowing that we have to defend well,” he said.
As for the ‘eleven’, he told the journalists to try to ‘guess him’, adding, however, on the subject of the ‘9’, that “regardless of who plays, they have to do the same, occupy the same spaces”.
“We decide tomorrow [terça-feira]”, The Spanish coach fired, refusing any problem of Spain with dead balls, after it was like this – after the corners – that the Swiss scored twice in Zaragoza, or that his team had the defense as a weak point.
In addition to winning, with the ‘eleven’ that he hopes can “make it more difficult for Portugal”, Luis Enrique also believes – in a “beautiful stadium, different from the others” – that the grass is in “good condition”, after having ” preserved” both teams, not training today at the venue.
The match between Portugal and Spain, from the sixth and final day of Group A2 of the 2022/23 Nations League, takes place on Tuesday, at 7:45 p.m., at the Estádio Municipal de Braga, with the refereeing of the Italian Daniele Orsato.
After five days, the five lead the group, with 10 points, against eight from Spain, six from Switzerland and four from the Czech Republic, the first going to the ‘final four’ and the last relegated to League B.
Source: TSF
