Santiago Bernabeu Stadium: Spain coach Luis de la Fuente will make several changes for his side’s friendly against Brazil at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium here on Tuesday night. Spain disappointed in a 1-0 defeat to Colombia on Friday night in London, with De la Fuente reserving several key players and handing debuts to Daniel Vivian, Pau Cubarsi and Alex Remiro, with the last two coming on as second-half substitutes.
Meanwhile, regular starters such as Unai Simon, Alvaro Morata, Dani Carvajal, Robin le Normand and Lamine Yamal all started on the bench, with Unai, Le Normand, Morata and Carvajal not getting onto the pitch, reports Xinhua.
They all look certain to start on Tuesday, although there is a doubt over Manchester City midfielder Rodri, who missed training on Saturday and Sunday due to the illness of a close family member.
Rodri is arguably Spain’s most important player as he sits in the midfield holding role, providing cover to the defense and starting many of their attacking moves.
Spain struggled to defend their flanks against Colombia, with right-back Pedro Porro too often caught in an advanced position, leading to Vivian being pulled wide. Colombia’s goal came when Porro went missing, allowing Luis Diaz to beat Vivian for pace and cross for Daniel Munoz to finish, with left-back Alex Grimaldo also failing to track back.
With Real Madrid duo Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo likely to start against Spain at the stadium where they play their club football, Spain will have to be a lot tighter down the flanks, and the duel between Carvajal and his teammates will be interesting.
The game will also give Real Madrid fans the chance to get a look at 17-year-old Endrick, who will join the club this summer when he turns 18. The forward scored the only goal of the game as Brazil beat England on Saturday.
With so many Real Madrid connections and the game being played at their ground, there is a chance it could turn into a ‘Real Madrid love-in’, but after Friday’s disappointment, De la Fuente needs his strongest 11 to show that the Colombia defeat was a one-off and that Spain are candidates to win this summer’s UEFA European Championship.