Spain boss Luis Enrique was full of praise for his new defensive pair Pau Torres and Aymeric Laporte following their 0-0 friendly draw with Portugal.
La Roja kicked off their preparations for Euro 2020 with a drab 0-0 draw at the Estadio Wanda Metropolitano as both sides looked to being feeling the effects of a long domestic season.
However, despite struggling to break down their visitors, Spain’s new-look back line kept a clean sheet.
Enrique’s big pre-tournament call was to leave out skipper Sergio Ramos due to fitness concerns.
Manchester City star Laporte has stepped in as his replacement after only declaring for Spain last month, with Torres picking up his 8th cap and Enrique was impressed at full time.
“I have seen the two starting centre-backs as sensational, they were superb”, he told a post match interview with Marca.
“They both played a game bordering on the outstanding.”
Both players were replaced in the final half hour in Madrid, with new Barcelona man Eric Garcia seeing some action alongside Leeds United’s Diego Llorente.
However, Enrique’s comments hint it will be Torres and Laporte who line up together again in Spain’s Euro 2020 opener in Group E, up against Sweden in Seville on June 14.
Images via Getty Images
