In the Iberian derby, the Portuguese have never won away from home and have never won since the European Championship 18 years ago.
The Iberian derby is the one between Spain and Portugal. Luis Enrique’s and Fernando Santos’s national teams compete for the first match of the new Nations League: kick-off at Benito Villamarin on Thursday 2 June at 8.45pm. In the last edition of the competition Morata and his companions surrendered only to France in the final. The CR7 group instead won the first edition. Switzerland and the Czech Republic complete the group.
LATEST RESULTS
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Spain finished first in the qualifying round for the World Cup ahead of Sweden. Luis Enrique’s team has returned from four consecutive victories, including the two friendly matches in March against Albania and Iceland. The national team has not reached five straight wins since September 2019. Mocked in the 90th minute by a goal from Serbian Mitrovic last November, Portugal played the playoffs for the access to Qatar 2022. No problem for Fernando Santos’ group who it passed first Turkey and then North Macedonia. In the Nations League, the Lusitanian national team has an excellent streak of positive results: in 12 matches they have only remedied one knockout (8 wins and 3 draws).
PREVIOUS
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The Iberian derby has already been played 38 times. Spain is clearly the favorite with 17 wins against just 6 of the opponents, 15 draws. The two most recent matches, both friendlies played in October 2020 and June 2021, ended 0-0. Portugal’s last victory even went to Euro 2004: 0-1, a decisive goal by Nuno Gomes on an assist from Figo. On the bench was Scolari. There is a curious fact to keep an eye on: the Lusitanian national team has never beaten Spain away. The most recent success of the Spaniards, on the other hand, arrived in the semifinals at Euro 2012 on penalties: Joao Moutinho and Bruno Alves made fatal mistakes from the spot. Finally, another statistic should be highlighted: Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates have never lost away from home in the Nations League (3 wins and 2 draws). Now the word goes to the field.
June 1 – 7:13 pm
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