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2022/23 UEFA Nations League
League A - Group 2
Matchday 1
Spain v Portugal
Estadio Benito Villamarin
Sevilla, Spain
Thursday, 2 June 2022
Kick-off is at 20h45
Spain will be looking to continue their dominance over Iberian neighbours Portugal on matchday 1 of the UEFA Nations League at the Estadio Benito Villamarin on Thursday, June 2.
La Furia Roja have won 18 of their 39 meetings, with A Selecao coming out on top just six times, although the last four encounters between them ended in draws.
Portugal were the first victors of the biennial competition when they beat the Netherlands 1-0 in the 2018/19 final, while Spain reached the 2020/21 final before losing 2-1 to France.
Luis Enrique's side have recorded four wins in a row since their defeat to Les Bleus, triumphing 2-1 against Albania and 5-0 against Iceland in friendlies during the last international break in March this year.
Image copyright: Getty Images
Enrique revealed his reasons behind handing a recall to Barcelona forward Ansu Fati, who has been struggling with injury since making his senior debut for the national team in a 1-1 draw with Germany 3 September 2020.
"I have a special plan, we're not going to take any risks," he was quoted as saying by Marca. "We're going to see him train, he's not going to play many minutes.
"It's more than anything a return to competition and to the parameters of the national team. It's more of a prize than bringing him in for minutes."
Fernando Santos' team had to navigate the playoffs to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar as they knocked out Turkey (3-1) and North Macedonia (2-0) in the semi-finals and final respectively.
The Portuguese were pipped to the top of Group A by Serbia in the qualifiers after failing to win their last two matches.
Santos is hoping they can carry their form in the World Cup playoffs over into the UEFA Nations League as he plans to repeat their success of three years ago by going all the way.
"We have to build on what we did in the play-offs," he said. "We will have four games in 10 days [in the Nations League], so we will have to manage the players' physical condition well.
"This is one of the most important competitions in the sporting calendar. We are going into it to win it."
Head-to-Head record:
Matches - 39
Spain - 18
Portugal - 6
Draws - 15
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