Let's earn three points against Portugal!

It’s today! The first of the matches against the Portuguese national team will be played tonight at 20:45 Spanish peninsular time at the Capital Do Móvel Stadium in Paços de Ferreira (Portugal). In just under four days, they will face the Portuguese national team again, with whom they are also scheduled to meet in the group stage of Euro 2025 in Switzerland.

The world champions are very clear on their objective for these two matches against the Portuguese team: to secure the 6 points at stake and regain the top spot they do not want to lose. This was expressed by both Mariona Caldentey and Montse Tomé in the lead-up to this third matchday of the UEFA Women’s Nations League qualification. The forward shared the team’s desire to "finish top of the group, and that means we have to go out and win," while the coach spoke of the team's capabilities and the "confidence" to turn their situation around in Group A3.

As the Asturian coach commented, "we shouldn’t just focus on the standings," as Spain "is a competitive team, and it depends on us." With this mindset, they face the first of these two matches against the current leaders of the group.

Francisco Neto’s team arrives with 4 points, following their draw against England and a win over Belgium. Meanwhile, the Spanish team secured a win in their debut against Belgium (3-2) but lost narrowly to England at Wembley (1-0). The reigning tournament champions have faced Portugal six times, with Spain winning five of those encounters. Now, in the present, the coach is clear: "Playing against Spain is motivating, and Portugal will play without pressure and full of motivation."

A "very aggressive and uncomfortable" team, as Mariona pointed out, Portugal will not make it easy for Spain, even with the absences of Jessica Silva and Kika Nazareth. However, the Spanish team rises to the challenge: “We’re a group that performs well under pressure. We’re getting used to success and winning, and that raises expectations, which we must live with. We’re aware of the level we have, and we want to prove it every match,” Mariona said. This is how they will approach tonight's game, which is expected to be rainy, in Portugal, for the first of these two encounters, refereed by the Romanian Iuliana Demetrescu (20:45, La 2 TVE). The goal: to earn three points tonight, and three more on Tuesday in Vigo at 19:00 (La 2, TVE) at Balaídos.