Spain vs Czech Republic Nations League preview: Where to watch, prediction, form guide
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Article summary
When is it? How can you watch it? All you need to know about the UEFA Nations League Group A2 game between Spain and Czech Republic.
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Spain and Czech Republic meet in UEFA Nations League Group A2 on Sunday 12 June.
Spain vs Czech Republic at a glance
When: Sunday 12 June (20:45 CET kick-off)
Where: La Rosaleda, Malaga
What: UEFA Nations League Group A2 fixture
How to follow: Build-up and live coverage will appear here
Where to watch Spain vs Czech Republic on TV
Fans can find their local UEFA Nations League broadcast partner(s) here.
Line-ups
Spain: Unai Simón; Carvajal, Eric García, Iñigo Martínez, Marcos Alonso; Soler, Rodri, Koke; Asensio, Morata, Olmo
Czech Republic: Mandous; Zima, Brabec, Jemelka; Coufal, Sadílek, Souček, Zelený; Pešek, Kuchta, Černý
Form guide
Spain (most recent match first): WDDWWW
Czech Republic (most recent match first): LDWDLW
Group A2 so far
02/06 Czech Republic 2-1 Switzerland
02/06 Spain 1-1 Portugal
05/06 Czech Republic 2-2 Spain
05/06 Portugal 4-0 Switzerland
09/06 Portugal 2-0 Czech Republic
09/06 Switzerland 0-1 Spain
Expert prediction
Simon Hart, match reporter: One week on from their 2-2 draw in Prague, these teams meet again in Malaga. In theory Spain should have the greater spring in their step after Thursday's narrow win in Switzerland on a night when match-winner Pablo Sarabia deepened the positive impression he is making this month.
Along with Sarabia, lively teenager Gavi – whose name was sung loudly by the Spain fans in Geneva, just as it had been during the Portugal draw on 2 June – and goalkeeper Unai Simón are the only other players to have started each Group 2 game to date so it will be intriguing to see which changes will be made by Luis Enrique, for whom centre-back Iñigo Martínez is a doubt with a swollen toe.
His Czech counterpart, Jaroslav Šilhavý, has hinted at plenty of rotation too, saying after Thursday's defeat in Portugal that "maybe we will have to make more changes to the starting XI than for previous games". This will include a third cap in goal for Aleš Mandous after Šilhavý promised a run-out to all of his keepers.
What the coaches say
Luis Enrique, Spain coach: "The Czech Republic caused us problems with some balls that were easy in theory but they caught us out badly. I'm not going to take any risks with any player from the national team. If we've ever taken risks with players who were injured it has been at the express wish of the player. That will be the case at the World Cup too.”
Jaroslav Šilhavý, Czech Republic coach: "Spain don't change the way they play. This is how they crush rivals and it's going to be worse because they are playing at home. They also come here hurt by the point we ripped from them. It's going to get tougher, we know that. In all aspects of the game, Spain have a very clear plan. They push very high and their idea is to always keep that pressure. I have been more impressed by Spain than Portugal."
What happens after the UEFA Nations League group stage?
The four group winners in League A will advance to the knockout finals with, in principle, one appointed as hosts. The semi-finals will be played on 14 and 15 June 2023 with the final and third-place play-off to follow on 18 June.
The teams finishing fourth in the groups in League A will be relegated to League B for the 2024/25 edition.