UEFA Nations League: 5 reasons why England will beat Spain

#2 Spain’s old, dominant team is now gone

Many of Spain's legendary veterans - shown here winning Euro 2012 - are now gone

A decade ago, Spain were the most feared side in international football. Thanks to a revolutionary style largely inspired by the dominant club side of that era – Barcelona – as well as legitimate world-class players in every position, La Roja marched to three straight tournament victories, winning Euro 2008, World Cup 2010 and Euro 2012. Players like Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Fernando Torres and Carles Puyol were at the top of their game.

Now though? The last of that generation – Iniesta, Gerard Pique and David Silva – retired from international football after this summer’s World Cup, and while there are a small handful of stars from those tournaments remaining in the current squad, namely Sergio Ramos and Sergio Busquets, for the most part, the team is missing that experience of success that their predecessors had.

The likes of Saul, Marco Asensio, Isco and Thiago Alcantara are fine players no doubt, but they don’t provoke the same feelings of fear in their opponents like Iniesta and Torres did in their prime. And while tiki-taka was revolutionary a decade ago, today it almost feels out of date, with modern successful sides using various other gameplans to great success.

Where an England side of 2010 might’ve simply folded in the face of such an intimidating opponent, the England of 2018 will know they have very little to fear from new-look Spain – and that could mean success for the Three Lions.