Wiegman left with much to ponder after Spanish lesson

You can only ride your luck for so long. If you are up against the best, if you are firmly on the back foot, then eventually you are going to get punished.

- ADAM MILLINGTON

That was the case for England against Spain. They faced constant aggression, were often penned back in their own half, struggled to go forwards, and, after Claudia Pina came off the bench and turned the tide for the hosts, departed Barcelona with a 2-1 defeat and having missed out on a chance to top their Nations League group.

Before Pina's double, England had benefitted from a handful of refereeing decisions, a well-taken Alessia Russo opener and the hosts' lack of final-third ruthlessness, but their performance was not one deserving of a victory. They tried to cling on, but doing so was an impossible test.

The Lionesses had barely begun adjusting to their surroundings when Hannah Hampton was forced to bail them out. Poor marking allowed a corner to go through, Esther Gonzalez struck it, but Hampton somehow got her palm to the Spain forward's effort. That set the tone for how things would progress.

Lucy Bronze and Niamh Charles, who usually spend their games charging up the flanks to create attacks, were rarely able to progress much further than the 18-yard box. Spain's midfield constantly found ways to get past Keira Walsh and Georgia Stanway and advanced in numbers, playing delicate strings of passes that left England unable to get anywhere near them. England's defence, too, often seemed unconvincing.