Portugal Vs Spain [2-2 (5-3)] UEFA Nations League Final 2024/2025: Roberto Martínez Tactics – Tactical Analysis

Portugal lifted their fourth-ever trophy after beating Spain on penalties following an extra-time period that finished 2-2 in the 2024/2025 UEFA Nations League Final, at the Allianz Arena in Munich, Germany.

Portugal resisted Spain’s attacking threats, limiting their strengths and countering their attempts intelligently to bring the game to penalties.

Both teams were capable of adding a third goal, but at the same time, they were cautious enough to avoid conceding goals in delicate moments, which led to penalty shootouts.

Although Luis de la Fuente‘s Spain did their best to win during the 90 minutes, they were unable to do so, mainly due to Roberto Martínez’s playing system in this match.

This system made things complicated for Spain, especially for their attacking key players, despite conceding two goals.

Portugal’s plan helped limit Spain’s very efficient and dangerous attacking ideas and their players’ individual threats.

One of the players affected by Martínez’s defensive tactics was the new star Lamine Yamal, who struggled to beat Nuno Mendes in duels.

In this tactical analysis article, we will explore how Roberto Martínez and his A Seleção side resisted La Furia Roja‘s experience and very dangerous possession-based attack, rectifying the mistakes made in the first half to take the game to penalties.

The analysis will also focus on the new Mendes-Rafael Leão duo and why Martínez needs to rely on this duo more often.

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2024/2025 UEFA Nations League Final Lineups & Formations

Portugal started the match in a 4-2-3-1 formation, with Diogo Costa as goalkeeper, João Neves as right-back, Rúben Dias and Gonçalo Inácioa as centre-backs, and Mendes as left-back.

The four defenders played a huge role in Portugal’s win.

They were very dynamic and succeeded most of the time in following their direct opponents and limiting the opponent’s threat, especially on the wings.

Moreover, both centre-backs were solid enough in terms of duels.

Despite conceding two goals, they played a pivotal role in limiting penetrations from the middle and blocking shooting trajectories and attempts.

That said, Martínez made an error in starting the match with Neves on the right flank, mainly because it was complicated for him to mark a quick winger like Nico Williams in the needed way.

But it counts for Martínez, the fact that he subbed Neves out at the start of the second half and instructed a more powerful defensive right-back, Nélson Semedo, to mark Williams.

That’s why Williams’ impact and threat were less tangible throughout the second half.

In midfield, Martínez preferred to opt for Bernardo Silva and Vitinha as a midfield duo despite having a reliable natural defensive midfielder in the squad, Rúben Neves.

It was not really a fruitful move by Martínez to opt for Silva to start out of position, which limited his attacking input and restricted him to more defensive duties that he does not really master like a natural, experienced defensive midfielder.

But once again, Martínez fixed his error as soon as the second half started by moving Silva to the right wing and substituting Rúben Neves to ensure a more balanced midfield duo.

Another controversial starting line-up choice was opting for Pedro Neto on the left wing and Francisco Conceição on the right wing while leaving a more dangerous left-winger like Rafael Leão on the bench.

This made Portugal lose precious time from an attacking perspective, as Neto’s input on that wing lacked concrete threat, which was comprehensible given that his contribution would have been much more tangible if he had played on the right wing.

This argument was confirmed as soon as Rafael Leão was subbed in since he succeeded in creating a lot of danger on the left-wing thanks to his dribbling skills, speed and penetrations.

Martínez opted for Bruno Fernandes for the advanced playmaker position, with Cristiano Ronaldo playing as a striker despite his injury, before getting subbed by Gonçalo Ramos later in the game.

On the other hand, Luis de la Fuente preferred to start the match according to the 4-3-3 formation with Unai Simón as goalkeeper, Óscar Mingueza as  right-back, Robin Le Normand and Dean Huijsen as centre-backs, and Marc Cucurella as left-back.

In midfield, he chose the trio Martín Zubimendi, Pedri, and Fabián Ruiz to maintain a balanced midfield.

That said, Isco could have been subbed in much earlier to add some remarkable playmaking quality and upgrade Spain’s attacking attempts.

One of Spain’s most powerful attacking weapons were the two wingers Yamal and Williams, with Mikel Oyarzabal playing as a striker.

Portugal High Pressing Strategy

Portugal’s performance was marked by a rigorous and organised high pressing plan that Martínez used to alleviate Spain’s build-up from the back and limit their ball progression in midfield.

Portugal’s players applied this continuous high pressing with discipline and intensity throughout the match.

They were always in numbers when advancing to close passing trajectories and surrounding the ball holder.

In addition, the plan included playing with a high defensive block to squeeze the Spanish team in a tight area and prevent them from finding spaces to comfortably use their possession-based attacks.

Portugal High Pressing

The following picture highlights Portugal’s extremely high pressing efforts.

Six players press inside Spain’s own third, obliging them to pass back to the goalkeeper, who will have no other choice but to opt for long passes, knowing that Portugal is advantageous when it comes to aerial duels.

Therefore, we can say that the risk was well-calculated from Portugal as they benefited from this high-pressure strategy to concede fewer attacks.

It was an intelligent way to face Spain since it put them in difficulty and obliged them to change their attacking transitions’ style and look for new options.

That said, the risk of this high pressing is that it comes with a high defensive block, which prevents a team like Spain from finding space to advance and play their possession-based football inside Portugal’s own third.

With such a high defensive block and a high pressing approach, Martínez’s idea was to avoid being sieged in their own third while attacking whenever possible.

Nevertheless, such a high defensive bloc can be very risky when defending against a team that uses wide areas very well and have quick and dangerous wingers like Yamal and Williams.

Martínez risked conceding more danger during the first half, mainly because the strategy of the high defensive bloc requires quick and very powerful defenders.

The risk was further confirmed because João Neves could not keep up with Williams’ speed or mark him tightly.

This created many issues for Portugal’s defence, as Williams succeeded in running behind Portugal’s defensive line.

At the same time, Neves was not reactive enough to mark him well during the movements that Williams attempted to exploit the spaces left behind the high defensive line.

Portugal High Pressing Errors

This is a perfect example of one of the times when Neves failed to anticipate Williams’ movement without the ball behind the defensive line as soon as he saw the ball reaching Cucurella.

Neves’ inability to keep up with Williams’ pace could have led to conceding an additional goal or two in that first half, since Williams was very dangerous when he got the ball in those areas.

Therefore, it was wise to sub in Semedo during the second half so that the team could keep playing with a high pressing line and defensive block without fearing Williams’ penetrations like in the first half.

Portugal Consistency In Using The High-Pressing System

Portugal kept using their high pressing system until the extra-time periods, with a continuous five-player press inside Spain’s own third that helped them avoid being sieged in their own third.

It was one of the best ways to face a team like Spain, relying on dynamic and aggressive frontline pressure combined with a high defensive block.

This system was surely not perfect since Spain were still able to attack and threaten Portugal, apart from scoring two goals.

However, it limited their attacking potential in this match, complicating things for players who prefer spaces like Yamal.

The Nuno Mendes-Rafael Leão Duo

Two of the most remarkable players in this match were Mendes in the first place and Leão.

Mendes started the match very well despite having one of the most complicated tasks in the world at the moment: stopping Yamal.

Mendes showed some remarkable defensive abilities against Yamal in addition to a cold-blooded attitude that made things complicated for Yamal during most of the duels with Mendes.

At the same time, Mendes did not hesitate to advance whenever needed and succeeded in creating the awaited threat from that left wing while retreating quickly as soon as the ball got back to Spain.

Mendes had a crucial role in Portugal’s second goal as his crosses and penetrations from that side were extremely valuable to Portugal.

More importantly, the chemistry between Mendes and Leão in this match requires some attention as it resembles the “Theo-Leao” duo at AC Milan.

Both players have exceptional dribbling and speed abilities in addition to key passing.

But what made their duo disturb Spain’s defence was their continuous movements without the ball and their ability to instinctively spot each other’s next move.

Nuno Mendes-Rafael Leão Passing & Movement

The following picture highlights both players’ ability to create space for each other and easily exclude defenders with key passes and movements.

It would have been much more beneficial for Portugal to utilise this duo from the start of the match, allowing them to remain dangerous throughout the game from that left wing.

Nuno Mendes-Rafael Leão First-Touch Passes

Furthermore, building on the chemistry between both players becomes necessary as it would undoubtedly make Portugal much more powerful from an attacking perspective, making their left-wing a source of continuous danger.

The following example illustrates another instance where both players successfully excluded their markers with only two touches.

It started with Leão providing a first-touch pass to Mendes, who, in turn, attempted a successful body feint combined with an oriented control to escape from marking and find himself unmarked on the whole left wing.

This helped him penetrate from the wing until reaching the box.

Conclusion

Portugal’s historic win against one of their biggest rivals confirmed that this generation of players has a lot to offer their country.

Portugal will need to build on this success and prepare themselves with more confidence and motivation for the upcoming tournaments.

They know that they have the potential to win more titles, especially if they make the right choices in terms of line-ups and tactical plans.

During this match, their high-pressing and high-defensive-block strategy worked for them against Spain, despite a few errors that could have led to conceding more goals.

That said, risks are inherent in football, and Spain did not take any risky choices in this match, as they were unable to devise an alternative attacking plan to break down Portugal’s defensive system.

This painful occasion will definitely prompt de la Fuente to consider an efficient and alternative attacking system to use when facing teams that adopt the same defensive style in the future.