'1ST HALF WORST OF MY TIME AS COACH'

Enrique rues poor outing as toothless Spain lose 2-1 to Swiss, but eyes redemption in Portugal

ZARAGOZA - It is a problem that has haunted Spain for years.

Different managers have experimented with different strike partnerships, but La Roja have not been able to identify a reliable forward line on the same level as Fernando Torres and David Villa, who fired the country to the 2008 and 2012 European Championship titles and the 2010 World Cup.

At Euro 2020, coach Luis Enrique used Alvaro Morata and Gerard Moreno to little effect, with the pair heavily criticised as Spain were eliminated in the semi-finals.

With the former Barcelona boss still searching for his best pairing up front less than two months before the Qatar World Cup starts, he opted on Saturday to field a new front trio of Ferran Torres, Marco Asensio and Pablo Sarabia.

However, it backfired as Spain slumped to a 2-1 Nations League defeat by Switzerland that saw the hosts knocked off the top of Group A2 by Portugal, who thrashed the Czech Republic 4-0 with goals by Diogo Dalot (two), Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota.