After the end of the five major European leagues, the UEFA Nations League rekindled the fire, after the two semi-finals, the Plaid Army Croatia and the Matador Legion Spain successfully met in the final and will compete for the UEFA Nations League trophy, Croatia, which has never lifted the trophy in the World Series before, definitely wants to have the last laugh in the peak matchup, but the fighting power cannot be compared with the peak of Spain, is not an easy opponent to deal with, first of all, they are a team based on passing control. This will put a lot of pressure on the Croatian midfielder led by the Magic Flute, followed by Spain is not afraid of the king of overtime, according to statistics 18 years to date, Croatia has won 6 of 7 overtime games, the only overtime is a loss to Spain, it can be seen that it is not easy to win the first championship in team history! After the start of the game, the two teams fought fiercely for 120 minutes without scoring a goal, and in the final penalty shootout, Simon's outstanding performance helped Spain beat Croatia 5-4 and stand on top of Europe again after 11 years!
Croatia still adopted its most familiar 4-3-3 formation, with Livakovic guarding the goal, Perisic, Shutaro, Elric and Yuranovic forming a back four, the midfield three are Modric, Brozovic and Kovacic, and the forward line is Luka Aiyves, Kramaric and Pasalic.
Spain followed the favourite 4-2-3-1 system of new manager De La Fuente in this final, with Simon as the starting goalkeeper and Keylor Navas, Lenormont, Laporte and Alba in the back four, Manchester City treble champions Rodri and Fabian Ruiz in the back, Asensio, Garvey and Pino in midfield, and Morata continuing to play the team's single arrow.
After the start of the game, the two teams fought fiercely in midfield, Spain dominated in possession and number of shots, but Croatia were the more threatening side of attack, and in the 23rd minute they directly created a solo chance for Kramaric in the long half of the field, but before he could shoot, it was destroyed by a tackle-back by Laporte.
In the 30th and 38th minutes, Modric sent a high-quality cross from the right to find Perisic in the box, and the latter's two headers also hit the target, but unfortunately the Spanish goalkeeper held the ball steadily, and neither side returned to the dressing room at half-time.
Just 50 minutes into the second half, Croatia created a very threatening attack, Perisic used his ability to cross from the left, the ball was high and offside the goalkeeper, but the player who was outflanked in the middle could not touch the ball and missed the opportunity to score in an empty goal.
Spain came close to beating Croatia in the final moments of regular time, substitute Fathi, who received a pass from a teammate in the box, directly volleyed and was cleared by Perisic's goal line, and in the following time, neither side could score, and the game was once again dragged into extra time.
After 30 minutes of extra time, the two teams still scored, and the game came to a brutal penalty shootout:
First round: Vlasic, Joselu, Croatia 1-1 Spain;
Second round: Brozovic, Rodri, Croatia 2-2 Spain;
Third round: Modric, Merino, Croatia 3-3 Spain;
Fourth round: Mayer missed, Asensio missed, Croatia 3-4 Spain;
Fifth round: Perisic, Laporte, Croatia 4-4 Spain;
Round 6: Petkovic missed, Carvajal missed, Spain sealed the title 5-4!
Once again beating Croatia in extra time, Spain proved itself to be the nemesis of the Plaid Army, and they also returned to the top of Europe after 11 years after winning the European Championship in 12 years, and the Croatian golden generation represented by Modric can only accept the sad ending!