Spain faced off against Italy at Wembley Stadium earlier tonight as they looked to secure a win and book a place in the final of the UEFA European Championships. The Spanish players dominated possession in the first half but couldn’t break the Italian defence down as both sides went into the half-time break with a 0-0 scoreline.
The Italians made a bright start to the second half and took the lead at the hour mark when Federico Chiesa scored with a brilliant finish. However, Alvaro Morata came off the bench to equalise for Spain in the 80th minute which took the match to extra-time.
Both sides cancelled each other out as the contest finished 1-1 after extra time. Luis Enrique’s men ended up losing the penalty shootout by a 4-2 scoreline as they got knocked out of the Euros.
Let’s take a look at how each Spanish player fared during the match against Italy.
GK: Unai Simon – 7/10
The talented keeper distributed the ball well and made some important saves to restrict the Italians to just one goal after 120 minutes. However, he didn’t do enough to stop the opposition from winning on penalties.
RB: Cesar Azpilicueta – 6/10
The Chelsea right-back worked hard but struggled to influence the game in the final third. He ran out of gas and got replaced in the 84th minute.
CB: Eric Garcia – 6.5/10
He complimented his centre-back partner quite well and kept things solid on the defensive end of the field. However, he couldn’t last the distance and got substituted in the second half of extra time.
CB: Aymeric Laporte – 7/10
Laporte won the ball back quite a few times for his side and even cleared his lines when needed. He was a rock at the back, but his heroic efforts were not enough in the end.
LB: Jordi Alba – 6.5/10
Alba got stuck in with a few tackles and created one good chance going forward. He did well to last the whole 120 minutes.
CM: Koke – 6/10
He engineered a couple of decent chances in the attacking third and kept the ball moving quite well under pressure. He got subbed out of the game in the 69th minute.
CM: Sergio Busquets – 6.5/10
The Barcelona midfield ace made some solid tackles to disrupt the Italians’ rhythm in the game. But he struggled to orchestrate anything of note in the final third.
CM: Pedri – 7/10
He ran the show for Spain at the centre of the park and set up two inviting opportunities for his teammates to score.
RW: Mikel Oyarzabal – 6/10
Oyarzabal had plenty of lively moments in and around Italy’s penalty box but lacked the cutting edge in front of their goal.
ST: Daniel Olmo – 7/10
Olmo set up Morata’s equaliser with an excellent give and go pass. He caused all sorts of problems for the Italians with his clever movement and work ethic. However, the talented forward ended up missing a penalty in the shootout.
LW: Ferran Torres – 6.5/10
Torres made some promising runs during his time on the field. However, he lasted only 61 minutes.
Substitutes:
ST: Alvaro Morata – 7/10
The former Chelsea striker came off the bench to net the all-important equaliser with a tidy finish. However, he missed his penalty in the shootout.
ST: Gerard Moreno – 6.5/10
He hardly got a sniff at the goal but converted a penalty in the shootout.
CM: Rodri – 6/10
The Manchester City midfielder added some bite and steel to Spain’s midfield.
CM: Marcos Llorente – 6/10
He brought some energy onto the field.
CM: Thiago – 7/10
The Liverpool playmaker passed the ball well and kept his calm to score his penalty after extra time.
CB: Pau Torres – 6/10
He kept things solid at the back in extra time.
