Spain hold Germany in first leg of Women's Nations League final

World champions Spain held Germany to a scoreless draw in the first leg of their Women's Nations League final in Kaiserslautern on Friday, as goalkeeper Cata Coll made several crucial saves ahead of Tuesday's second leg in Madrid.

The Germans dominated much of the game as Spain sat deep to protect their goal, seemingly banking on being able to win the title at home.

Klara Buehl, who had four clear chances in the opening half, told Germany's ZDF: "We played incredible 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."

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 on 52 minutes.

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.

dwi/bc