Spain vs Poland UEFA Euro LIVE Football Score 19 June 2021
Reporters’ views
Graham Hunter, Spain reporter: Right now there’s a constant buzz around whether Álvaro Morata should start or not. He’s been a bit profligate recently, but there is always some kind of debate going in Spain’s footballing press at a big tournament; Luis Aragonés dropping Raúl González, whether David de Gea should have succeeded Iker Casillas, the bumpy relations between Javier Clemente and Michel. It’s part of the furniture here.
Piotr Koźmiński, Poland reporter: Grzegorz Krychowiak is suspended and will not play in the Andalusian city he knows well from his time at Sevilla. Besides him, there are no injuries and Paulo Sousa has everyone available. Poland need Piotr Zieliński in top form to maintain their tournament chances. He’s considered one of the squad’s most skilful players and is sometimes called a ‘Polish Brazilian’ due to his refined technique. Will he show it at La Cartuja?
What the coaches and players say
Pablo Sarabia, Spain forward: “The mood and the goals are the responsibility of all of us. We all defend, we all attack. Morata’s attacking work is to be admired. He’s a cracker of a player. The stats show it: the caps, the goals.”
Paulo Sousa, Poland coach: “What makes me optimistic before the game is, first of all, the quality of my players and their belief that we can do it. Of course, we are in a difficult situation, but sometimes great things are forged in adversity. Our task will be to minimise their possession as much as possible. But as I said, we have quality in our team and will do the best to show it against Spain
LAWRO’S PREDICTION
Spain had plenty of possession against Sweden and were very neat with their passing, but they did not make it count. They also let Sweden in on goal a couple of times, which will give Poland some hope, although I don’t see them getting anything here.
MATCH FACTS
Head-to-head
- Spain have won eight of their ten previous meetings against Poland (D1, L1).
- However, this will be a first meeting between the two at a major tournament.
- Poland’s only victory over their hosts was a 2-1 win in November 1980.
- Spain have hosted Poland twice since 2000 – winning 3-0 in January 2000 and 6-0 in June 2010.
Spain
- Spain attempted 917 passes against Sweden and completed 830 of them – both were the highest ever recorded in a Euros match (since 1980).
- Their possession figure of 85% against the Swedes’ was also the highest ever recorded in a single match.
- Spain have now failed to score in two of their last three matches.
- Alvaro Morata has now failed to score in his last four international matches.
- However, he has scored three of Spain’s last four goals at a European Championship.
- Morata has also scored the most goals for Spain since Euro 2016, with 16 in 32 matches.
Poland
- Poland have won just two of their 12 matches at a European Championship (D6, L4).
- They have failed to score more than one goal in all 12 matches.
- The Poles could lose their opening two matches at a major tournament for the fourth time – but first at a European Championship.
- Robert Lewandowski has scored with just two of his 35 shots for Poland at major tournaments, failing to score with his last 17 attempts since netting against Portugal at Euro 2016.
