Spain secured a 3-1 win over Czechia in Oviedo on Saturday night to stay top of UEFA Nations League A Group 3 with nine points from three games, but did so without any Real Madrid players involved. Lamine Yamal, Rodri and Mikel Merino were all on the scoresheet, with Jiri Sláma scoring a consolation goal for Czechia, who also had captain Vladislav Krejci sent off.
Coach Luis de la Fuente opted to rest both central defender Dean Huijsen and left-back Marc Cucurella. It comes just days after the duo
both played the full 90 minutes in a 4-1 win over Croatia. That game marked Huijsen’s first Spain appearance since March, having been left out of the 2026 World Cup squad.
Huijsen was replaced in defence by Aymeric Laporte, the Athletic Club defender who was first choice for Spain’s victorious efforts in the summer. He partnered with Atlético Madrid defender Robin Le Normand, with the curious coincidence of both having been born in France.
Cucurella was replaced by a former Real Madrid man in La Fábrica product Fran García. The 27-year-old defender, who joined Real Betis this summer, was a late call-up to replace Álex Grimaldo, who withdrew with an injury having been in line to start against Croatia before pulling up with a muscle problem which has seen him return to Atlético Madrid.
Promising striker Carlos Espí was also dropped from the squad and didn’t make the bench, despite having been called up from the under 21s to the senior squad in the past few days.
The other former Madridista involved was Liverpool winger Víctor Muñoz, who came on as a substitute at half-time to replace Barcelona’s Lamine Yamal.
Spain now face one more game in this international break, facing Croatia in Split on Tuesday night, and will then complete the UEFA Nations League group stage with two games, against Czechia in Prague and against England in Madrid, in November.
