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Euro 2020: Croatia versus Spain preview

By Ernesto Hernandez

SEVILLE, SPAIN - JUNE 23: Pedri and Thiago Alcantara of Spain acknowledge the fans after the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship Group E match between Slovakia and Spain at Estadio La Cartuja on June 23, 2021 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Jose Manuel Vidal - Pool/Getty Images)
SEVILLE, SPAIN - JUNE 23: Pedri and Thiago Alcantara of Spain acknowledge the fans after the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship Group E match between Slovakia and Spain at Estadio La Cartuja on June 23, 2021 in Seville, Spain. (Photo by Jose Manuel Vidal - Pool/Getty Images) /
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GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – JUNE 22: Luka Modric (L) of Croatia celebrates a goal during the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship Group D match between Croatia and Scotland at Hampden Park on June 22, 2021 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. (Photo by Luka Stanzl/Pixsell/MB Media/Getty Images)
GLASGOW, SCOTLAND – JUNE 22: Luka Modric (L) of Croatia celebrates a goal during the UEFA Euro 2020 Championship Group D match between Croatia and Scotland at Hampden Park on June 22, 2021 in Glasgow, United Kingdom. (Photo by Luka Stanzl/Pixsell/MB Media/Getty Images) /

Euro 2020 has been trying at times for Spain. The side managed by Luis Enrique ended up second in Group E despite playing all their games in Seville. Croatia finished second in Group D only behind England.

The pressure heading into the game appears to be falling primarily on Spain as their performances have raised more questions than answers.

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Though perhaps they’ve performed better than the results indicate.

The problem for Spain has been their finishing. In all their games, they created enough chances to score. But they only managed one goal in their first two games.

Alvaro Morata came into a lot of criticism and Gerard Moreno, who many were clamoring for, missed a penalty in their draw against Poland. While the end product has been their weakness, they’ve played rather well.

As expected, they’ve had the majority of the possession in all their games and it was only a matter of time before the goals came. Everything seemed to come together when they beat Slovakia 5-0.

Croatia, on the other hand, are playing with house money in a way. The 2018 World Cup runners-up are not the same team we saw during that tournament. It is a side that is on their last hurrah. Players like Ivan Rakitic are no longer part of their set up and have retired.

But Luka Modric still is and he’s the motor that runs the Croatian side. His performances against Scotland was enough to propel them into second place.

On paper, Croatia are underdogs. Spain appear to have more talent but are lacking a clinical finisher to finish off their moves. In an international tournament, that’s crucial. Factor in the absence of Ivan Perisic due to Covid-19, they have a mountain to climb.

All that being said, Croatia do have priors against Spain. The last time they met was in the Nations League in 2018-19 where Croatia won 3-2. Spain, however, returned the favor later on with a 6-0 win.

Next. Euro 2020: Denmark thrash Wales; Italy squeak past Austria. dark

The familiarity between them could come into play. Spain can be got at defensively. The game is going to come down to what Spain can do going forward and if Morata can finish off chances. For Croatia, their hopes will fall on what Modric can pull out of his hat.

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