SPAIN
FIFA World Ranking: 6
Previous Best: Winners 1964 2008 & 2012
Last 5 Euros (Latest first): L16-Winner-Winner-Groups-QF
How Qualified: Winner Group F
Qualifying Record: P10 W8 D2 L0 F31 A5 GD26 Pts26
Tournament Odds: 8/1
Squad
Goalkeepers: David de Gea (Manchester United), Unai Simón (Athletic), Robert Sánchez (Brighton & Hove Albion)
Defenders: José Gayà (Valencia), Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Pau Torres (Villarreal), Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City), Eric García (Manchester City), Diego Llorente (Leeds United), César Azpilicueta (Chelsea)
Midfielders: Thiago Alcántara (Liverpool), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Koke (Atlético), Marcos Llorente (Atlético), Dani Olmo (Leipzig), Rodri (Manchester City), Fabián Ruiz (Napoli), Pablo Sarabia (Paris), Ferran Torres (Manchester City), Adama Traoré (Wolves)
Forwards: Álvaro Morata (Juventus), Gerard Moreno (Villarreal), Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad), Pedri (Barcelona)
Group Fixtures
June 14 vs Sweden (8pm – Seville)
June 19 vs Poland (8pm – Seville)
June 23 vs Slovakia (5pm – Seville)
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History
Spain are one of the teams with a rich history in the European Championship having won the tournament three times. Their first tournament win was when there were only four sides competing and came in front of their home fans but bigger and more important wins came in the 21st century when Spain were classed as the best side in the world with talents like Xavi, Andres Iniesta, David Villa and Fernando Torres at their peak. They disappointed in exiting at the last 16 stage in France five years ago and aren’t quite as fancied now as they were in the past.
Qualifying
Spain were placed in an exciting group in qualifying, one which could have been a little tricky if they had taken their eye off the ball slightly. They didn’t do that and qualified comfortably, coming through a group which contained Sweden, Norway and Romania without losing a match and only dropping four points across the 10 matches courtesy of away draws in Norway and Sweden, neither of which are terrible results. Spain were free scoring despite the loss of some big stars since the World Cup with Rodrigo, Alvaro Morata and Sergio Ramos their top scorers with four goals in that group.
Pandemic Effect
Spain probably welcomed the delay as it has given Luis Enrique the chance to blood some younger elements to his squad and also recruit Aymeric Laporte which could be significant as the competition as gone on. Despite not completely convincing in the Nations League and World Cup qualifying over the last 12 months, Spain look like they are going in the right direction again with a talented young squad so overall the delay hasn’t caused them too many problems.
Strengths
As you would expect, there is a lot of technical ability in this Spain squad, particularly in midfield where their options are particularly strong with some household names among the players available to Luis Enrique. The other strengths of this squad are that there is no shortage of tournament experience on the pick and in the coaching staff and they have home advantage throughout the squad stage which they will look to make the most of.
Weaknesses
They do not have the superstar forwards of teams gone by so that could be a concern, although they do have a lot of forwards that are capable of interchanging allowing them to be tactically flexible. Goalkeeper looks to be a huge concern with David de Gea fading fast at Manchester United and the other two keepers in the squad both inexperienced with only having seven caps between them. Luis Enrique chose to take just 24 players to the finals and didn’t select a single Real Madrid player, which could cause concerns down the line if they are not successful.
Manager
Luis Enrique was one of the better players of his time and now he is looking to add to his honours in his second spell in charge of Spain. He made a name for himself in charge of Barcelona where he took them to two La Liga titles, three Copa del Reys, a Champions League, Super Cup and Club World Cup success. This is his second spell in charge of Spain after he quit for personal reasons a couple of years ago. He soon returned to the hotseat though and will begin this tournament with a record over the two spells of P22 W13 D6 L3.
Key Players
The pure class of Sergio Busquets will be key for Spain in this tournament. Not only does the Barcelona maestro protect the defence in that holding midfield position, but he provides a shield which allows the more attack minded midfielders to get forward and support the attacks and do their thing. Ferran Torres started to show his worth the longer the Premier League season went on for Manchester City and he could be a star of the tournament for Spain.
Team Bets
Predicting how well Spain will or won’t do in this tournament got a lot more complicated with the Covid-19 issues they have endured in the run up to the competition beginning. That is going to take some players away from the squad for a while and if anyone did have symptoms they might be under par for a while so I’m not going to go too mad with my bets in their markets. In fact I’ll just take one in the top goalscorer market.
That player is Ferran Torres. I like the Manchester City man and expect him to have a good tournament if everything is ok with him. The one thing that you can say about this Spain side is that they lack genuine firepower through the middle if Alvaro Morata doesn’t do the job and I’m very hit or miss on him I have to say. We shouldn’t underestimate the Villareal star Gerard Moreno but there is a good chance Torres is a little bit special and given he can play a few positions across that front line I’ll take his finishing ability here.
Tips
Back F.Torres Top Spain Goalscorer for a 1/10 stake at 5.50 with BetVictor
Back him here:
