Clàudia Pina’s double for Spain means England miss out on Nations League finals | OneFootball

Technically superior, commanding in possession and securing a victory that reflected their dominance, Spain demonstrated why they are the favourites to win the European Championship in Switzerland this summer as they came from behind to defeat England in Barcelona and top their Nations League group.

Clàudia Pina, on as a substitute for Spain, proved to be the matchwinner, scoring twice and causing all sorts of problems for the England defence. After the visiting side held a half‑time lead thanks to Alessia Russo, the Barcelona forward equalised just inside the hour, two minutes after coming on, when she created room to shoot inside the area with her left foot and beat Hannah Hampton.

Her second goal was outstanding, struck from distance with power and finesse, with the ball bouncing in off the post and giving the new England No 1 no chance.

The result ensured Spain progressed to the Nations League semi-finals in October and England finished second in the group. It will have given the England head coach, Sarina Wiegman, plenty to ponder with less than 48 hours before she names her squad for the European Championship in July.

Wiegman, who has overseen 12 wins out of 12 in her two previous European Championship campaigns as a head coach, named what appeared to be her strongest available starting side, but it was in the second half, when she introduced substitutes, that Spain began to fully assert their superiority. She explained some of her second-half substitutions by saying: “We wanted to win this game but we also had to have a look to the Euros and manage a bit of load.”

Spain had taken control of the possession, territory and chances from the beginning of the contest, but they were initially thwarted and frustrated, largely thanks to an outstanding save from Hampton. The keeper demonstrated her quick reactions by denying Esther González from close range after the ball dropped kindly for the Spain forward from a corner.

It was England who took the lead, however, as Russo marked her 50th cap with her 22nd goal for England, latching on to Keira Walsh’s ball and having the pace and composure to stretch clear of Irene Paredes and then expertly roll her finish past Cata Coll and into the far bottom corner.

The hosts were indignant, believing Salma Paralluelo had been fouled by Niamh Charles in the lead‑up to the goal. Paralluelo had gone to ground after attempting to turn inside and the ball had rolled to a grateful Walsh, whose subsequent through ball to find Russo’s run was exquisite.

The crowd were intent on making their feelings clear to the officials, but perhaps they should have been more angry at their own players, with at least three of them appearing to pause as they appealed for the foul.

The home supporters had a far stronger case to feel aggrieved a few moments later – and their whistling intensified significantly – when the ball hit Charles’s outstretched arm inside the area, as she had attempted to clear Alexia Putellas’s left-wing cross. In line with Uefa’s regulations for this stage of the competition, there was no video assistant referee so the officials were not able to have a second look.

The hosts remained on the attack and the Ballon d’Or winner, Aitana Bonmatí, and her Barcelona teammate Patri Guijarro rolled efforts wide from long range.

After the break, Wiegman gave the Aston Villa midfielder Missy Bo Kearns her senior England debut, replacing Georgia Stanway, and soon afterwards swapped Jess Carter for Lucy Bronze at right-back, as well as Chloe Kelly being introduced to give Beth Mead a rest. While the Lionesses began to look weaker off the ball, Spain were getting stronger, after bringing on Pina to replace Paralluelo.

Wiegman said of Bo Kearns’s debut: “It’s a pretty big game for her to come and she did really well. She started well. The intensity of the game was a step up for her but she’s moving forward.”

After Pina – who was also on target in both legs of Barcelona’s 8-2 aggregate victory against Chelsea in the Women’s Champions League semi‑finals in April – had scored her quick double, Spain saw out the win in relatively comfortable fashion and they will head to Switzerland in strong form, having also enjoyed a 5-1 away victory against Belgium on Friday.

England will host Jamaica in a friendly in Leicester on 29 June in their final fixture before the European Championship but they will now seek to defend their title off the back of one win and one defeat in their two Nations League meetings with Spain, who look the team to beat.

Header image: [Photograph: David Ramos/Getty Images]