MUNICH — World champions Spain held Germany to a goalless draw in the first-leg of the UEFA Women’s Nations League final in Kaiserslautern, with goalkeeper Cata Coll producing a string of crucial saves ahead of Tuesday’s return-leg in Madrid.
Germany dominated possession for much of the match, but Spain opted for a deep, defensive setup, seemingly confident of clinching the title on home soil.
Klara Buehl, who had four clear chances in the opening half, told Germany’s ZDF: “We played incredibly bravely, and we feel bitter that we didn’t score.”
The Bayern Munich forward said that her side were buoyed by the performance ahead of next week’s decisive match.
“Now we have a classic (single match) final and we’re extremely excited about it,” Buehl added according to AFP.
Germany coach Christian Wueck said that his side showed “we can not only compete but even play our own game against a team like Spain”.
However, he was left frustrated that his team “failed to reward ourselves again” despite creating several chances.
Germany came into the match speaking of taking revenge against the World Cup winners, who eliminated them from the Euro 2025 semi-finals in Switzerland in July.
Pre-match, Spain coach Sonia Bermudez promised that her side would “not play for a draw,” but they seemed to do exactly that, sitting deep, slowing down play and provoking boos from the home crowd.
In the first half, Franziska Kett forced Coll into a desperation save with her feet. Jule Brand had a better chance just moments later, but Irene Paredes cleared the ball off the line.
Spain’s best chance came when Esther Gonzalez hit the post in the 52nd minute. Buehl also hit the post in the 71st minute with Coll left flat-footed.
The hosts had a late chance to win it in stoppage time when Jule Brand threaded the ball through to Sjoeke Nuesken, but Coll was alert to dash from her box and clear the danger.
“The result is positive and we will see them again in the Metropolitano [Stadium],” Coll said. “This is Germany. We knew they would be dangerous and have their chances. Fortunately, they didn’t put them in.”
The Germany forward Klara Bühl played a starring role, but her threatening dribbles and powerful shooting could not get the better of the Spain defence, and the Germans were almost caught out when Esther González hit the woodwork for Spain just after the break.
Despite difficult conditions with rain falling steadily through the second half, Bühl never relented and she finally got a shot past Coll, only to see it bounce back off the foot of the left post and away to safety.
The winger Jule Brand followed up that effort with a shot that skimmed off the top of the bar in the 76th minute, but despite 19 attempts on goal for Germany and nine for the visitors, neither side managed to score, leaving the tie delicately balanced ahead of the second-leg.
“Everyone who saw the match knows that we didn’t just keep up but played really well,” the Germany defender Janina Minge said. “If we can convert our chances and keep defending as we, did we can get the win on Tuesday.”
Spain’s first victory over Germany came in the 2025 European Championship semi-finals, where Aitana Bonmatí scored in extra time.
Spain has reached the finals of the last four major tournaments. They beat England in the 2023 World Cup and France in the 2024 Women’s Nations League, but lost to England in last summer’s European Championship final.
In the first-leg of the third-place match in Reims, Mbock Bathy headed a 96th-minute winner to give France a 2-1 lead over Sweden, who had equalised through Arsenal’s Stina Blackstenius in the second half.
