Wembley is too big for Spain

Wembley , one of the meccas of football, sacred ground for the Anglo-Saxons and also for Barcelona, ​​having won two European Cups on its green turf, was too big for Spain . The team suffered its first defeat in the group stage of the Nations League after falling to England (0-1) in a duel that came close to scoring a goal in abundance, but their lack of aim and defensive errors ended up throwing the locals out. It was Park who left the victory on the island, the forward scoring a goal caused by another defensive error by Paredes . Although Paralluelo and Caldentey came close to signing the equaliser in the second half, England knew how to suffer and deny the Spanish the passage until the final whistle.

To the rhythm of Aitana Bonmatí , the midfielder very fine as usual, Spain began to build its superiority over England in the first minutes. Their possessions were very long, slow but with a lot of intention, and, when the locals fell hypnotized by such a battery of passes, the team took advantage to sink its teeth in with force. Salma Paralluelo was very close to scoring the first of the night after a great play, almost Maradona-esque, with several consecutive cuts, but her brilliance was extinguished by a sea of ​​Anglo-Saxon legs. Lucía García , shortly after, took advantage of the chaos generated by a corner to send the ball to the crossbar with a shot at point-blank range. England successfully took refuge in its physique, but the truth is that the visiting talent clearly imposed itself.

The only players to be able to make a fuss were Paredes , who has not been able to reach the expected level since her return to the national team. Barça's centre-back suffered from the home team's wing play and even received a yellow card in the 22nd minute after bringing down Toone . This insecurity gave wings to England, who were increasingly arriving with more consistency. Their goal was not made effective by Coll's genius between the sticks, but the change in dynamics had been evident. Spain forgave at the time and now it was their turn to suffer, a reality that became effective in the 33rd minute. A great individual action by Russo on the left wing led to Park , assisted by Paredes herself, scoring the first at ease with the visiting defence already beaten. The blow was softened by the exemplary effort of Paralluelo, but the break prevented it from having an impact on the scoreboard.

Montse Tomé 's pupils were renewed after the restart. Caldentey almost scored from long distance and García, after a good through ball from her teammate, came close to beating Hampton . A blizzard was only stopped by an almost total blackout in the stadium, coloured by the 50,000 telephones that inhabited the stands and by the surviving screens, on which one could read "Go, England!". Once the technical problems were overcome, Tomé put the scalpel in and introduced Leila Ouahabi to stop the bleeding on the left wing, but the British seemed once again launched to win, with options to increase their advantage and very solid in the defensive part.

Paralluelo , the best of the Spanish team, or at least the bravest, had a clear opportunity to equalise. However, when she was running unopposed towards the goal, the ball fell behind her, thus wasting one of the few errors that the local defence had made. There were 15 minutes left and the team was focused on attacking, all they needed was a bit of luck to achieve the longed-for draw. A luck that, on the other hand, never made an appearance.