De la Fuente 'forgot' about the Barça internationals against Portugal

The UEFA Nations League final between Spain and Portugal (2-2, 5-3 on penalties) was particularly bitter for the FC Barcelona internationals. Again, Luis de la Fuente opted for Pedri González and Lamine Yamal in his starting XI, but forgot about the rest of the culés internationals in the final stretch of the match, when La Roja needed solutions from the bench the most.

Pau Cubarsí, inexplicably, was left on the bench again. Dean Huijsen, with a very poor performance against France (5-4) accompanied Robin Le Normand in the center of the defense. The only defensive adjustment compared to the semi-finals was the entry of Óscar Mingueza for Pedro Porro on the right side.

From midfield forward, the match looked ideal for players like Gavi, Fermín López or Dani Olmo against a Portugal that proposed a give-and-take match that, logically, took its toll in the final minutes. However, the culés did not even enter in extra time.

Luis de la Fuente's changes did not work against Portugal

Bruno Fernandes greets the Spain players after the final

Although La Roja had a very bad time in the first 20 minutes of the second half, the coach waited until the 75th minute to make his first double change. Pedri and Fabián Ruiz came off for Isco and Mikel Merino, respectively, although the departure of the Canary Islander took the team by surprise.

The '8' gave an assist in the first half and was the compass of a midfield surpassed in the physical aspect by the Portuguese. In his place, if anything, logic pointed to the entry of Dani Olmo.

But De la Fuente preferred to bet on an Isco who only contributed a distant shot that Diogo Costa sent to the corner during the 45 minutes he was on the field. The Betis player, however, did his job by scoring his penalty.

In extra time, the first changes were Mingueza for Pedro Porro (a change that was expected, as the former culé player had a rather poor match) and Nico Williams for Álex Baena. The latter was one of the most discussed changes, as the player from La Rioja had Fermín López available to give greater depth to the Spanish attack.

Afterwards, Lamine Yamal and Mikel Oyarzabal would come on for Yeremy Pino and Álvaro Morata. The '7' missed the decisive penalty in the shootout, while Gavi, a more sensible bet for the midfield, remained on the bench alongside Olmo. A real outrage that cost very dearly.

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De la Fuente 'passes' on self-criticism after the defeat in Munich

In the post-match press conference, the Spanish coach avoided making self-criticism for the changes made in the final stretch of the match. On the contrary, he highlighted Portugal's work for proposing a head-to-head match.

"They have hit us and we have hit them. In the elite, the details lead you to take the prize and they have played very well and have top-level players. I wouldn't change anything, if they didn't score the second goal we would be talking about something else", explained the coach.

Although De la Fuente took responsibility for Álvaro Morata's missed penalty, as he personally asked him to take the fourth in the shootout, he ruled out errors in the planning or reading of the match.

"Against Portugal we have had more possession than against France and the other day we scored five goals. Football today is very even and the matches are decided by details; that is what has happened against Portugal", pointed out the player from La Rioja.

Regarding the departure of Lamine Yamal after the end of the first half of extra time, the Spanish coach justified the change due to the physical wear and tear of both the match and the entire season. The '19', however, had a discreet final, where he lacked prominence with a Spain that turned its attack, mainly, to the left.

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"We wanted to give a little energy to the match. Yeremy (Pino) and (Álex) Baena gave us that control of the game that we needed. We wanted to reactivate energies in the whole group, but especially on the wings", he explained.

The minutes of the Barça internationals in the 'final four' of the Nations League

In the 'final four' of the Nations League, Cubarsí and Fermín did not play, while Gavi came on in added time against France. Dani Olmo played 25 minutes in the 'semis', while Pedri was also on the field for 65' against the Gauls. Lamine Yamal played both full matches, although he came off in the final stretch of the final.