Spain and England face each other in the Euro 2025 final: Putellas and Guijarro downplay favoritism
The stars of the Spanish national team, Alexia Putellas and Patri Guijarro, have downplayed the favorite label for the 2025 European Championship final against England, insisting that the pressure is on the English.
Spain and England will face each other in a duel that promises to be exciting. The Spanish women will seek victory, while the English women, current European champions, will try to defend their title.
Sunday’s clash in Basel will be a rematch of the World Cup final that Spain won 1-0 two years ago. However, England arrives as European champions after winning the tournament in 2022, where they beat Spain in the quarter-finals.
Both teams faced each other twice this year in the UEFA Nations League, with one win for each.
“They are the current champions,” Guijarro told reporters when asked who the favorites are at St. Jakob-Park.
Patri Guijarro
“We are two great teams. I think it’s appropriate that both teams are in the final. It will be a beautiful and special final. We know many of their players from club football, but both teams will give 200% and, obviously, will seek to win,” he added.Aitana Bonmatí, teammate, added that “all the pressure falls on England to defend their title”, while Putellas has mentioned that the Lionesses’ coach, Sarina Wiegman, should be considered the favorite, as she seeks a personal treble after also winning the European Championship in 2017 with the Netherlands.
“I don’t think there are favorites in a final,” Putellas said. “However, I’ve said that Sarina has won two in a row, so she should be the favorite. But now, in a final, there are no favorites. Any small detail can make the difference. Therefore, we have to be prepared for that and, above all, counteract their strengths and try to play our game, which we know we can do.”
Alexia Putellas
Spain and England are two teams that like to have possession of the ball, averaging 72.1% and 60.5% respectively so far in the tournament.
Guijarro highlighted that Spain is prepared for any game plan that England presents, whether it’s maintaining possession or playing on the counterattack.
“England has a great taste for possession,” Guijarro said. “We are similar in that sense. But I also think we are similar in our variability in counterattacks, balls behind the defense, fast players… They have that too.
“I think what has defined them in this European Championship is their competitiveness. What they are doing is not easy at all. They have had difficult moments and, nevertheless, that cool head and the competitiveness they have, in my opinion, have led them to this final. They have never given up. Therefore, we have worked on both [ways England could play]. We work on everything: [facing] high pressure, medium pressure, low pressure, with four [in defense] or with five.
Guijarro also highlighted Keira Walsh, former Barcelona teammate and now at Chelsea, as England’s biggest threat.
“You already know everything good I have to say about her,” she added. “For me, she is England’s key player, the one who gives meaning to the game when they have the ball. They like to have the ball, like us, and Keira understands football like I do.”
