Spain and its bench continue to make the difference

The Spanish midfielder Mikel Merino was the protagonist of Spain’s victory in Split against Croatia (1-2), on the fourth day of the Nations League, with a double after entering the game in the second half, demonstrating once again that the world champion has great bench depth.

With Spain’s victory against Croatia, the world champion has gone 42 consecutive games without defeat, the last eleven with victories. A streak that turns the team led by Luis de la Fuente into one of the best national team teams in history, since the Euro 2024 title and the 2026 World Cup are added to these successes.

Some results that the ‘Red’ are achieving with a great generation of footballers that remembers the generation that chained the European Championship, World Cup and European Championship between 2008 and 2012. As on that occasion, Spain has many of the best players in the world in each position, and proof of this is that world-class players such as David Raya, Fermín López, Pedri González or Mikel Merino do not have a secure place in the starting eleven.

And one of the great virtues of the national team is the large number of variants that De la Fuente has when it comes to planning a match. An advantage that allows you to change the sign or dynamic of a match by introducing modifications from the bench. The last proof of this was suffered by Croatia on the fourth day of the Nations League, where Mikel Merino, with a double at the start of the second half, turned around a game that had gone uphill.

The Navarrese’s two goals are the last two of a total of six goals scored by players coming off the bench in the first four rounds of the Nations League. Six goals out of a total of 12 scored by Spain, which means that 50 percent of the world champion’s goals in the tournament have been scored by substitutes.

Especially relevant is the figure of the English Arsenal FC footballer, with three goals as he also scored the final 3-1 against the Czech Republic in Oviedo, and an assist from the bench, extending the great impact he already offered in the World Cup. In addition, Álex Baena and Mikel Oyarzabal came out in the second half to turn the score at Wembley against England with 2-2 and the decisive 2-3, with the Andalusian also providing an assist, while Nico Williams closed the 4-1 in Seville against Croatia.

Furthermore, the number increases to 10 if the assists are taken into account, with special relevance being the winning goal against England, the fourth in Seville against Croatia and the winning goal against the Croatians in Split. In all of them, both the assistant and the scorer had entered the field of play during the course of the match.

But the impact of the players coming off the bench is not new to the first national team break of the season. In the World Cup, three of the six goals that Spain scored in the tournament since the quarterfinal round were scored by substitutes. Merino again, with his key goals in the round of 16 against Portugal and Belgium, and Ferran Torres, scorer of the goal that gave the title in the final against Argentina, with assistance from another substitute, Nico Williams.

And, since Luis de la Fuente took charge of the Spanish team, the ‘Red’ have overcome 12 single-match qualifiers – five in the World Cup, four in the Euro Cup and three in the Nations League – and of them five were overcome with a decisive goal scored by a player coming off the bench. Joining those already mentioned are Joselu, who gave the victory against Italy in the semifinal of the 2023 Nations League, and Merino in the quarterfinals of EURO 2024 against Germany.

Personifying these excellent data in a game, the name cannot be other than Mikel Merino. The Navarrese midfielder has specialized in contributing from the bench since of the 15 goals he has scored as a full international, all of them under the command of Luis de la Fuente, seven have been without being part of the starting eleven, to which are added three of his six assists.