⚽ UEFA Nations League ⚽ - Discussion Thread

[kizilhare]

Spain's golden generation is currently on a 40 match unbeaten streak, the last time they lost was in 2024, Columbia was the team to have beaten Spain and since then, they have been running riots on the field with 39 wins and 9 draws. This is the longest number of unbeaten runs in international football, with Italy being the team that held this record before Spain just overtook it 3 matches ago. Italy held the record with 37 matches unbeaten spanning for 3 years, 2018 - 2021. With Spain's form right now, they could actually make it 50 unbeaten runs.

It wouldn't be accurate to attribute this success solely to a "golden generation," because new players coming through the ranks continue to operate within the same system and structure.
In my opinion, Barcelona's style of play makes the biggest contribution to this.
Years ago, the "tiki-taka" system was introduced thanks to Pep, and the managers who followed have continued to play using that same system. If you look closely, the backbone of the Spanish national team is consistently made up of Barcelona players.
As long as the system remains intact, this success could continue for another decade.

[KTChampions]

Spain's golden generation is currently on a 40 match unbeaten streak, the last time they lost was in 2024, Columbia was the team to have beaten Spain and since then, they have been running riots on the field with 39 wins and 9 draws. This is the longest number of unbeaten runs in international football, with Italy being the team that held this record before Spain just overtook it 3 matches ago. Italy held the record with 37 matches unbeaten spanning for 3 years, 2018 - 2021. With Spain's form right now, they could actually make it 50 unbeaten runs.

I have great respect for Spain, but I can't help but note the peculiarities of its statistics, which, by the way, cause heated debate on all social networks, but on this forum, basically no one pays attention.
As we all know, Portugal won the 2025 Nations League final (against Spain). In other words, no one disputes that Portugal won the tournament and Spain lost. The nuance is that both regulation time and extra time ended in a draw, and the title was decided by a penalty shootout. And although there is an obvious winner and an obvious loser, the game is recorded in the statistics as a draw.
But setting the question of statistics aside, can we say that Spain was unbeaten in this game? 

[BitBakerr1]

Jorge Jesus actually disrespected Ronaldo and it is very bad of him. I was not expecting him to act this way towards Ronaldo. If he knows he was not willing to use Ronaldo he shouldn’t have called him up, it is a big embarrassment for a player like Ronaldo to be called up just to keep him on the bench.
My anger right now is that the coach is making this kind of statement and I don’t see the reason why he should be making this kind of statement. It is very bad of him.
Let see if his going to win the trophy.

If he actually said that, then he disrespected Cristiano Ronaldo, and it is a shame that someone like him would be saying those things.
From what I heard there was an agreement between them and Cristiano Ronaldo. They agreed that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to play half of the matches and again Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to retire from the national team, but they begged him to stay and he decided to stay, so why would they be treating him this way?
Cristiano Ronaldo is supposed to retire from the national team as a hero not this way, they should reconcile and make things work the right way.

[Queentoshi]

Jorge Jesus actually disrespected Ronaldo and it is very bad of him. I was not expecting him to act this way towards Ronaldo. If he knows he was not willing to use Ronaldo he shouldn’t have called him up, it is a big embarrassment for a player like Ronaldo to be called up just to keep him on the bench.
My anger right now is that the coach is making this kind of statement and I don’t see the reason why he should be making this kind of statement. It is very bad of him.
Let see if his going to win the trophy.

If he actually said that, then he disrespected Cristiano Ronaldo, and it is a shame that someone like him would be saying those things.
From what I heard there was an agreement between them and Cristiano Ronaldo. They agreed that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to play half of the matches and again Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to retire from the national team, but they begged him to stay and he decided to stay, so why would they be treating him this way?
Cristiano Ronaldo is supposed to retire from the national team as a hero not this way, they should reconcile and make things work the right way.

Was Ronaldo ever begged to remain in the National team? I think that even if he was it was at the time where he was still contributing very positively to the team and being more of a benefit to the team than the way he currently is seeming like one very bitter cry baby whenever he asked to remain on the bench forgetting that he's old and may not be as effective as he used to be. He is a silly sense of entitlement that is like he must play in every game, either he is fit or not. Ronaldo made a mistake deciding to remain playing even when the signs were already obvious that he needs to give the younger players an opportunity.

[Hvdv]

Jorge Jesus actually disrespected Ronaldo and it is very bad of him. I was not expecting him to act this way towards Ronaldo. If he knows he was not willing to use Ronaldo he shouldn’t have called him up, it is a big embarrassment for a player like Ronaldo to be called up just to keep him on the bench.
My anger right now is that the coach is making this kind of statement and I don’t see the reason why he should be making this kind of statement. It is very bad of him.
Let see if his going to win the trophy.

If he actually said that, then he disrespected Cristiano Ronaldo, and it is a shame that someone like him would be saying those things.
From what I heard there was an agreement between them and Cristiano Ronaldo. They agreed that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to play half of the matches and again Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to retire from the national team, but they begged him to stay and he decided to stay, so why would they be treating him this way?
Cristiano Ronaldo is supposed to retire from the national team as a hero not this way, they should reconcile and make things work the right way.

I agree with you, too. At the very least, Cristiano Ronaldo deserves a fitting farewell when he leaves the Portuguese national team, because Portugal has enjoyed successful periods in recent years thanks to him. For Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal wasn't just a team; it was a great passion. Even though this situation might hurt him, I am certain Ronaldo won't hold a grudge against Portugal, and that the country will organize a farewell match for him.

[Barcode_]

Jurgen Klopp might be a good manager for Liverpool in the past, but I felt he might not be the appropriate coach to lead Germany national squad, it was truly a horrible day for German fans around the world to witness their team suffering a surprise loss at the Allianz Arena. Germany does have a Fifa world ranking at 12 at the moment and the fans would surely expect them to perform much better for being such a high ranking team, Germany will have a chance to redeem themselves once again at the Allianz Arena as they will be playing against Serbia today and I hope they will be able to claim a victory against Serbia at the final whistle.

[Lucius]

My friend, Livakovic has never been a good goalkeeper. Barcelona signed him as a backup keeper. I watched the match highlights, and he played very poorly. I don't think he'll be in goal for Croatia in the next match.
~snip~

So the people at Barcelona who bought him have no idea how to choose a goalkeeper? Livakovic is an excellent goalkeeper who won third place with Croatia at the WC Qatar and played in the final of this competition we are now discussing. That's clearly not an achievement for you...

Any goalkeeper who has a bad defense in front of him will concede a lot of goals no matter how good he is.

[Wake Up]

My friend, Livakovic has never been a good goalkeeper. Barcelona signed him as a backup keeper. I watched the match highlights, and he played very poorly. I don't think he'll be in goal for Croatia in the next match.
~snip~

So the people at Barcelona who bought him have no idea how to choose a goalkeeper? Livakovic is an excellent goalkeeper who won third place with Croatia at the WC Qatar and played in the final of this competition we are now discussing. That's clearly not an achievement for you...

Any goalkeeper who has a bad defense in front of him will concede a lot of goals no matter how good he is.

I really rate Livakovic, too. He could easily be Barcelona's starting goalkeeper, not just the third choice. I would say they currently have a very talented goalkeeper in that third-choice role. He achieved a great deal with the Croatian national team and also spent some time playing in Turkey. I imagine he will be happy wearing the Barcelona jersey in Spain and will put in strong performances. He did have a poor game against Spain, but any goalkeeper can have a bad match; what matters is recognizing one's mistakes and raising one's level. It wasn't just Liva; Croatia's defenders were also very poor.

[cxtreenal]

Jorge Jesus actually disrespected Ronaldo and it is very bad of him. I was not expecting him to act this way towards Ronaldo. If he knows he was not willing to use Ronaldo he shouldn’t have called him up, it is a big embarrassment for a player like Ronaldo to be called up just to keep him on the bench.
My anger right now is that the coach is making this kind of statement and I don’t see the reason why he should be making this kind of statement. It is very bad of him.
Let see if his going to win the trophy.

If he actually said that, then he disrespected Cristiano Ronaldo, and it is a shame that someone like him would be saying those things.
From what I heard there was an agreement between them and Cristiano Ronaldo. They agreed that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to play half of the matches and again Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to retire from the national team, but they begged him to stay and he decided to stay, so why would they be treating him this way?
Cristiano Ronaldo is supposed to retire from the national team as a hero not this way, they should reconcile and make things work the right way.

I agree with you, too. At the very least, Cristiano Ronaldo deserves a fitting farewell when he leaves the Portuguese national team, because Portugal has enjoyed successful periods in recent years thanks to him. For Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal wasn't just a team; it was a great passion. Even though this situation might hurt him, I am certain Ronaldo won't hold a grudge against Portugal, and that the country will organize a farewell match for him.

It is not yet confirmed whether Ronaldo has any conflict with his national team. Although various media outlets are reporting that Ronaldo has left the Portugal national team training camp. If that is true, then there may be other reasons than conflict with the team. Ronaldo had considered retiring before the last World Cup, but the Portuguese president encouraged him not to retire, as was reported in various media outlets. If Ronaldo has any conflict with the national team now, it would certainly be undesirable and not good for Portuguese football because a talented player must be evaluated and if he announces his retirement, the Portuguese national team must bid him farewell with respect.

[Sally9256]

I agree with you, too. At the very least, Cristiano Ronaldo deserves a fitting farewell when he leaves the Portuguese national team, because Portugal has enjoyed successful periods in recent years thanks to him. For Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal wasn't just a team; it was a great passion. Even though this situation might hurt him, I am certain Ronaldo won't hold a grudge against Portugal, and that the country will organize a farewell match for him.

After all he's done for Portugal they definitely need to organize a farewell program for him, he deserves it. I'm pretty sure he won't hold any grudge against them, it's still his country and he loves them.
In all this Ronaldo has a fault as well. If he had retired earlier he wouldn't be facing all this disrespect. There is no way you can keep playing at top level when your body can't keep up anymore and there is something with humans, they seem to easily forget the good things you have done so it's best to know when to stop especially when things are starting to get ugly.

[Phoenix Anka]

Germany will play against Serbia in today's Nations League matches. Having lost to Greece despite playing at home, Germany is likely to defeat Serbia this time around. Meanwhile, Greece the surprise team of the group, will host the Netherlands. I am very curious to see if Greece can win again, as the Netherlands is a strong team with a high probability of defeating them. If Greece manages to beat the Netherlands with the support of their home fans, the group standings could look very different.

[Yabani]

Jorge Jesus actually disrespected Ronaldo and it is very bad of him. I was not expecting him to act this way towards Ronaldo. If he knows he was not willing to use Ronaldo he shouldn’t have called him up, it is a big embarrassment for a player like Ronaldo to be called up just to keep him on the bench.
My anger right now is that the coach is making this kind of statement and I don’t see the reason why he should be making this kind of statement. It is very bad of him.
Let see if his going to win the trophy.

If he actually said that, then he disrespected Cristiano Ronaldo, and it is a shame that someone like him would be saying those things.
From what I heard there was an agreement between them and Cristiano Ronaldo. They agreed that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to play half of the matches and again Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to retire from the national team, but they begged him to stay and he decided to stay, so why would they be treating him this way?
Cristiano Ronaldo is supposed to retire from the national team as a hero not this way, they should reconcile and make things work the right way.

Ronaldo wouldn't have quit the national team if not for this negative situation, but it served as a pretext.
This way, Ronaldo will bring his national team career to an end.
I also don't think it's right for it to end this way.
I hope Jesus didn't actually make such a statement.
There is also this aspect: just because Ronaldo is on the bench, there is no rule stating he must enter the game at some point.
The head coach decides that.
Regardless of his career.

[Davidloki]

Jurgen Klopp might be a good manager for Liverpool in the past, but I felt he might not be the appropriate coach to lead Germany national squad, it was truly a horrible day for German fans around the world to witness their team suffering a surprise loss at the Allianz Arena. Germany does have a Fifa world ranking at 12 at the moment and the fans would surely expect them to perform much better for being such a high ranking team, Germany will have a chance to redeem themselves once again at the Allianz Arena as they will be playing against Serbia today and I hope they will be able to claim a victory against Serbia at the final whistle.

I think the probelm is with the players and not really the coach, because their performance at the world cup was not any different from their recent performance, but now with a more experienced coach. The Germany team needs more experienced players who are ready to represent their country, there is no passion whatsoever on the pitch with these boys, you could see it on their faces.

Jurgen Klopp is definitely not the problem, but I still believe that their form would be revived like the old days, maybe sooner than expected.

[Umulala-alala]

Jorge Jesus actually disrespected Ronaldo and it is very bad of him. I was not expecting him to act this way towards Ronaldo. If he knows he was not willing to use Ronaldo he shouldn’t have called him up, it is a big embarrassment for a player like Ronaldo to be called up just to keep him on the bench.
My anger right now is that the coach is making this kind of statement and I don’t see the reason why he should be making this kind of statement. It is very bad of him.
Let see if his going to win the trophy.

If he actually said that, then he disrespected Cristiano Ronaldo, and it is a shame that someone like him would be saying those things.
From what I heard there was an agreement between them and Cristiano Ronaldo. They agreed that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to play half of the matches and again Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to retire from the national team, but they begged him to stay and he decided to stay, so why would they be treating him this way?
Cristiano Ronaldo is supposed to retire from the national team as a hero not this way, they should reconcile and make things work the right way.

I agree with you, too. At the very least, Cristiano Ronaldo deserves a fitting farewell when he leaves the Portuguese national team, because Portugal has enjoyed successful periods in recent years thanks to him. For Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal wasn't just a team; it was a great passion. Even though this situation might hurt him, I am certain Ronaldo won't hold a grudge against Portugal, and that the country will organize a farewell match for him.

I don't think Portugal will have a player like cristiano Ronaldo again, and he will forever be a legend in his country side Portugal will definitely miss him and the world when he stop playing football. The coach would have given him some respect he deserve it would have been best that he didn't invite him rather inviting and keeping him on bench forgetting that most people only come to watch cristiano Ronaldo play despite his age, he still have some influence when he is playing and you can't underrate him because of his age, they need to talk some sense into the brain of that coach Portugal needs cristiano Ronaldo at all time.

[Arenga pinnata]

Jorge Jesus actually disrespected Ronaldo and it is very bad of him. I was not expecting him to act this way towards Ronaldo. If he knows he was not willing to use Ronaldo he shouldn’t have called him up, it is a big embarrassment for a player like Ronaldo to be called up just to keep him on the bench.
My anger right now is that the coach is making this kind of statement and I don’t see the reason why he should be making this kind of statement. It is very bad of him.
Let see if his going to win the trophy.

If he actually said that, then he disrespected Cristiano Ronaldo, and it is a shame that someone like him would be saying those things.
From what I heard there was an agreement between them and Cristiano Ronaldo. They agreed that Cristiano Ronaldo was going to play half of the matches and again Cristiano Ronaldo wanted to retire from the national team, but they begged him to stay and he decided to stay, so why would they be treating him this way?
Cristiano Ronaldo is supposed to retire from the national team as a hero not this way, they should reconcile and make things work the right way.

In fact, an agreement had already been reached between Cristiano Ronaldo and Jorge Jesus that CR7 would not play in the two matches against Norway and Denmark. However, Cristiano Ronaldo was reportedly included in the squad anyway because, should the situation change, there is a possibility he could be called upon to play.

In fact, it’s reported that Cristiano Ronaldo had already flown to Denmark, but it seems something caused him to return home earlier than planned or suddenly. I even suspect this has something to do with the fact that what Jorge Jesus promised wasn’t actually carried out. As for what Jorge Jesus said at the press conference, it did sound more or less like that. However, from what I’ve been able to find, most of it is just speculation from the media and the like. And indeed, anything involving Cristiano Ronaldo always makes for the most popular news. So sometimes, even a small piece of information can be blown out of proportion.

[Oluwa-btc]

Jorge Jesus actually disrespected Ronaldo and it is very bad of him. I was not expecting him to act this way towards Ronaldo. If he knows he was not willing to use Ronaldo he shouldn’t have called him up, it is a big embarrassment for a player like Ronaldo to be called up just to keep him on the bench.
My anger right now is that the coach is making this kind of statement and I don’t see the reason why he should be making this kind of statement. It is very bad of him.
Let see if his going to win the trophy.

Both the president and the coach are disrespectful! They was even responsible for him returning amd there's a presse conference for that evidence but they choose to see him sidelined. Cristaino Ronaldo will always be remembered as the legand who brought Portugal their first ever international trophy but Jorge Jesus? Who will?! Literally no one. I also do not blame most of those Portuguese fans and players disrespecting Cristaino Ronaldo, one can say that they are jealous asf. This Portuguese national team wouldn't have been shit without Cristaino Ronaldo, like his sister said, the only price for betrayal is leaving and looking forward, they will get what they deserve themselves

[Solodoski]

Spain's golden generation is currently on a 40 match unbeaten streak, the last time they lost was in 2024, Columbia was the team to have beaten Spain and since then, they have been running riots on the field with 39 wins and 9 draws. This is the longest number of unbeaten runs in international football, with Italy being the team that held this record before Spain just overtook it 3 matches ago. Italy held the record with 37 matches unbeaten spanning for 3 years, 2018 - 2021. With Spain's form right now, they could actually make it 50 unbeaten runs.

Spain is definitely the best international team in the world right now and they have shown that by achieving a 40 match unbeaten run. I think they have the most stable and complete team right now and that have also helped for them to achieve this new milestone. It is not easy to achieve this milestone,  but Spain has managed to do it and I really agree that a lot of kudos goes to this new generation of players, because they always try to give their best whenever they are on the pitch.  This will be really hard for any team to beat this record, so I am expecting this record to stay for a long time.

[Arenga pinnata]

One team that has really taken me by surprise is Greece. The Greek national team seems to have returned to its former glory, just like when they won the EURO in 2004. Back then, they also pulled off a major upset by defeating Portugal in the final.
Will there be a similar upset this season? I’m quite curious.  

However, today they’ll face the Netherlands, and I doubt Greece will manage to pull off a win. Although I thought the same thing when they played Germany, and as it turned out, they actually won that match. But if Greece does manage to beat the Netherlands today, then yes, Greece’s strength definitely deserves to be taken seriously this time around.

And there’s one more team I’m wondering if they’ve turned things around or not. One thing’s for sure: tomorrow’s match will answer it all. Because tomorrow, Italy will face France.

[Unsoldier]

Germany will play against Serbia in today's Nations League matches. Having lost to Greece despite playing at home, Germany is likely to defeat Serbia this time around.
...

There are a lot of questions surrounding Germany’s performances, and looking at the odds offered by the bookmakers, you can’t help but wonder how on earth the Germans are supposed to beat Serbia by a big margin after losing to Greece and drawing with the Netherlands. That said, Serbia have actually had an even worse start to this Nations League campaign than Germany. In theory, this is a match between the two underperforming teams in the group, so a draw in Germany vs. Serbia is certainly possible.

[Ale88]

Jorge Jesus actually disrespected Ronaldo and it is very bad of him. I was not expecting him to act this way towards Ronaldo. If he knows he was not willing to use Ronaldo he shouldn’t have called him up, it is a big embarrassment for a player like Ronaldo to be called up just to keep him on the bench.
My anger right now is that the coach is making this kind of statement and I don’t see the reason why he should be making this kind of statement. It is very bad of him.
Let see if his going to win the trophy.

What the hell did I just read... He is the coach, he decides who plays and who doesn't. Ronaldo is behaving like a spoiled kid because he didn't play a match that Portugal managed to win. It's ridiculous. He is showing no respect at all for all his teammates because he basically made clear that if he doesn't play then he doesn't care about the national team. He's incredibly selfish.