Spain and the Netherlands will lock horns for the second leg of their UEFA Nations League quarter-final on Sunday evening, with the tie delicately poised following a 2-2 draw in the reverse fixture in Rotterdam.
Oranje came from a goal behind to lead 2-1 early in the second period on Thursday night, but substitute Mikel Merino netted a last-gasp leveller for La Roja, who are the reigning champions of this competition.
Match preview
Spain made the perfect start to Thursday's first leg, with Nico Williams making the breakthrough in the ninth minute, but the Netherlands answered back through Cody Gakpo and Tijjani Reijnders to take a 2-1 lead in the tie.
Luis de la Fuente's side struggled to get going for long stages of the second period, but Merino came off the bench to register late on after Netherlands goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen failed to properly deal with a strike from Williams.
Spain had been on a six-game winning run entering the match, so that has now been broken, but the national side are without a defeat in a competitive match for almost two years - a 2-0 reverse to Scotland in March 2023.
La Roja are the reigning Nations League champions, having beaten Croatia on penalties in the final of the 2022-23 tournament, and the winner of this contest will take on either Croatia or France in the semi-finals at the start of June.
Spain are unbeaten against the Netherlands since the 2010 World Cup, but their last two matches have finished level, also playing out a 1-1 draw in a friendly in November 2020, and it is shaping up to be a fascinating second leg on Sunday night.
Netherlands were comfortable at 2-1 in the first leg before Jorrel Hato was sent off, with the youngster given his marching orders in the 81st minute of the contest for a rash challenge on Robin Le Normand.
Ronald Koeman's side can take plenty of encouragement from their performance, though, and it is now just one defeat in their last seven matches in all competitions.
Holland were impressive at last summer's European Championship, making the semi-finals of the competition before losing to England, while they finished second in their Nations League group behind Germany, picking up nine points from six matches.
Netherlands were the runners-up in the final of the 2018-19 Nations League, losing 1-0 to France, while they were fourth in the 2023 competition, losing to Croatia in the semi-finals before going down to Italy in a third-placed playoff.
A talented squad is capable of being a threat on the world stage, and victory over Spain on Sunday evening would send out a strong message that the national side are ready to be challengers for the major competitions once again.
Team News
Spain centre-back Pau Cubarsi was forced off in the latter stages of the first period on Thursday; the Barcelona defender has since withdrawn from the squad, so he will not be involved on Sunday night.
As a result, there could be a full Spain debut in the middle of the defence for Dean Huijsen, who replaced Cubarsi off the bench.
Merino and Dani Olmo will be in the manager's thinking when it comes to potential changes, but the duo are again likely to start on the bench, with the captain Alvaro Morata set to continue through the middle.
Aside from Cubarsi, Spain have not reported any fitness issues from their current squad.
As for the Netherlands, Ian Maatsen has received a late call-up to the squad, with Hato suspended following his red card against Spain, while Jurrien Timber will miss out through illness.
There will have to be a reshuffle at the back due to Hato's absence, with Jeremie Frimpong likely to be moved into the right-back position, with Lutsharel Geertruida switching across to the left.
Xavi Simons is likely to be introduced down the right for the visitors, but Memphis Depay is again set to lead the line, while Justin Kluivert and Gakpo are also in line for spots in the final third of the field this weekend.
Spain possible starting lineup:
Simon; Porro, Le Normand, Huijsen, Cucurella; Pedri, Zubimendi, Ruiz; Yamal, Morata, N Williams
Netherlands possible starting lineup:
Verbruggen; Frimpong, Van Hecke, Van Dijk, Geertruida; Reijnders, F de Jong; Simons, Kluivert, Gakpo; Memphis
We say: Spain 2-1 Netherlands (Spain win 4-3 on aggregate)
Thursday's match was very entertaining, and we are expecting more of the same here; both teams have players who can hurt the other in the final third of the field, and it would not be a shock to see this tie go all the way to penalties. However, we are expecting Spain to just about get the job done in normal time to progress to the semi-finals.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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