Spain vs Portugal player ratings: Gavi 9, Morata 7; Pepe 6, Ronaldo 4

Horata's late strike cancels out Morata's goal as Iberian rivals play out 1-1 draw in Uefa Nations League

SPAIN RATINGS: Unai Simon 7 - Made an outstanding stop just before the hour mark when he stuck out his right leg as Rafael looked like he was going to slot the ball home. Didn’t have much to do on a night where Spain dominated for most of the game. AFP

Cesar Azpilicueta 6 - The Chelsea man got forward and looked more comfortable attacking than defending. AFP

Marcos Llorente 6 - Defended well for the most part and didn’t give Silva much space to operate. Okay with the ball, kept it simple. Posted missing along with the rest of Spain’s defence for the equaliser. AFP

Pau Torres 6 - Similar to Llorente in that he didn’t give Portugal’s forwards many opportunities, but didn’t know what happened at the goal. AP

Jordi Alba 6 - Missed a sitter to win the game with five minutes remaining. Had the whole goal to aim at after Costa parried the ball into his path, but the Barcelona full back somehow headed wide. AP

Carlos Soler 7 - Had a golden opportunity to double Spain’s lead in the first half after some neat play by Gavi down the left. His initial effort was blocked, but his follow up was wild. Spain were left to rue that miss later on. AFP

Sergio Busquets 7 - The Barcelona midfield metronome did what he’s good at. He was always available to receive the ball from his defenders and moved it on cleverly, continually feeding the excellent Gavi in between the lines. AFP

Gavi 9 - The 17-year-old Barcelona prodigy was a constant threat and the architect of the counter attack for Morata’s goal after 25 minutes. He almost provided another assist minutes later when waltzed down the left hand side and cut the ball back for Soler. Easily the best player on the park. Reuters

Ferran Torres 6 - The Barca winger whipped in some dangerous crosses, but wasn’t as effective as they would’ve liked him to be. Flatters to deceive. EPA

Alvaro Morata 7 - Calmly finished off a lovely flowing counter attack to open the scoring. Should have put the game to bed on 64 minutes when he was put through with a perfectly weighted pass from the outstanding Gavi. Fluffed his shot. Good work rate and movement. AFP

Pablo Sarabia 6 - Held the ball up and carried it when he had time and space. Reuters

SUBS: Koke 6 - Replaced Soler on 63 minutes and used his experience to keep possession as Spain attempted to see the game out. AFP

Dani Olmo 5 - Replaced Ferran Torres on 63 minutes AFP

Raul De Tomas 5 - Came on for Morata with 20 minutes remaining. AFP

Marcos Llorente N/A - replaced the outstanding Gavi with 10 minutes remaining, allowing the youngster to receive a standing ovation from the crowd. Reuters

PORTUGAL RATINGS: Diogo Costa 6 - Flapped at a corner early in the game and got a second bite to claim the ball. Wasn’t convincing and should have been made to pay when he parried one out to Alba with five minutes remaining. AP

Joao Cancelo 8 - The Manchester City full back linked well with substitute Guedes down the right and whipped in a low cross for Horta to sweep home for Portugal’s deserved equaliser with five minutes to go. Always a threat going forward and defended well. AP

Pepe 6 - The 39-year-old made some timely interceptions and started attacks with some crisp accurate passing in the second half as Portugal played their way back into the game. Struggled at times with the clever movement of Morata. AP

Danilo Pereira 7 - The PSG stopper defended his box superbly. Read the game well and was always in the right area to stop the ball reaching its intended target. A colossus in the air. AP

DF Raphael Guerreiro 7 - Kept Torres and Azpilicueta in check and was a threat going forwards. AFP

Bruno Fernandes 5 - The Manchester United midfielder kept the ball better in the second half as Portugal started to create some opportunities in the attacking third, however he failed to make any telling contribution and struggled against his Spanish counterparts. EPA

Joao Moutinho 5 - The stand in skipper was hooked at half-time and replaced by Neves after he was booked for a cynical foul and then proceeded to commit more. Reuters

Bernardo Silva 6 - The little midfielder kept plugging away and tried to create around the box without any real end product. Did well to bring others into the game. AFP

Otavio - Defended really well at the far post when Torres was lurking and worked hard tirelessly in the Portugal engine room until he was substituted with around half an hour to go. AP

Andre Silva 6 - The RB Leipzig forward worked hard with little in the way of quality service and didn’t get much change out of Llorente and Torres. Missed a good opportunity in the first half. Getty

Rafa Leao 6 - The AC Milan striker should have done better with Portugal’s best chance of the game with half an hour to go. He initially did well but his finish lacked power and was well saved by Simon. EPA

SUBS: Ruben Neves 6 - The Wolves midfielder replaced Joao Moutinho at half-time and tried hard to get the Portugal midfield into the game. AP

Cristiano Ronaldo 4 - Replaced Otavio after 62 minutes. Had a tussle with Azpilicueata when he grabbed the defenders face, but did nothing else noteworthy. Reuters

Goncalo Guedes 5 - Replaced Andre Silva on 62 minutes. Getty

Ricardo Horta 7 - replaced Rafael Leao on 72 minutes and made an impact, scoring Portugal’s equaliser with Spain’s defence posted missing. The Braga striker’s first international goal was a first time, side foot finish swept into the net from Joa Cancelo’s accurate low cross. AFP

Nunes N/A - Replaced Bruno Fernandes with ten minutes remaining. AFP

Portugal striker Ricardo Horta grabbed a late equaliser to earn his side a 1-1 draw with Spain in their Nations League opener at Estadio Benito Villamarin on Thursday.

Alvaro Morata had given Spain the lead but Horta's goal ensured the great rivals drew for the fourth time in a row. Portugal have not won a competitive game against Spain since 2004 and have never beaten them on Spanish soil.

Spain made a lively start in the League A Group Two match when midfielder Gavi had a chance from outside the box in the third minute but his effort was blocked.

Portugal defender Pepe did well to stop midfielder Carlos Soler who was through on goal after receiving a precise low pass.

Morata put Spain ahead from close range following a fine passing movement involving midfielders Gavi and Pablo Sarabia in the 25th minute.

The 29-year-old, hoping to play his first World Cup this year, is now three goals away from Raul's national squad record of 61 across all age categories.

Portugal had opportunities to equalise through forward Rafael Leao and striker Andre Silva before halftime but both narrowly missed the target.

Fernando Santos' side were once more close to levelling just before the hour mark after Leao received a pass from Silva and defender Diego Llorente failed to block his strike, but goalkeeper Unai Simon stretched to deny him.

Morata, meanwhile, had another good chance which went just wide of left post in the 64th minute before he was substituted.

Substitute Horta equalised for Portugal eight minutes from time, leaving the Spanish defence behind as he latched on to a precise cross from defender Joao Cancelo inside the area and placed a shot into the middle of Simon's goal.

Fans of both sides were able to enjoy a lively game which had caused the Spanish national team's website to crash when tickets went on sale last week.

The last positive result in the fixture was Spain's victory on penalties at the 2012 European Championship and their last two friendly meetings finished goalless.

Both sides play three more Nations League games in the next 10 days. Spain travel to Switzerland between two matches against the Czech Republic while Portugal host the Czechs and face Switzerland twice.