Luis de la Fuente’s Spain will be clashing with Didier Deschamps’ France in the UEFA EURO 2024 semi finals for a ticket to the finale. Spain have been one of the most impressive teams in the tournament. Especially, given they were not the strongest of squads on paper. Moreover, many would not consider Spain to go all the way before the tournament began.
On the other hand, France were one of the favorites to lift the coveted trophy. Especially, considering their strong and one of the costliest squads heading into the tournament. However, the Les Bleus have failed to shine so far. Their performances have been subpar. Furthermore, they are totally out of their groove and extremely unconvincing given their stature. France will have to be at their best if they plan on beating Spain in the EURO semis.
Spain’s road to semi finals has been a joyride so far excluding the quarter final game. The La Roja would be the only team to win all its group stage games hardly putting a foot wrong. Moreover, they have scored the most goals in this year’s competition so far. Although, they would suffer a massive scare against the host nation Germany in the quarter finals. Spain would win the game in the dying stages of extra time. But, the match would cause many controversies with some fans requesting a replay.
Spain vs France at EURO: What do the stats say?
Both the teams have been defensively solid hardly putting a foot wrong. France have only conceded once in this competition and that too from the penalty spot. Meanwhile, Spain were broken down merely twice, once by Germany and Georgia each.
Spain and France have met each other 36 times until now. La Roja have the upper hand with 16 wins over Les Bleus’ 13. Spain will be playing at the EURO semis for the 6th time. Additionally, they have only ever failed once to qualify for the finals from this position. Meanwhile, the French have reached semi finals 5 times until now.
Although, France have would make a ‘ludicrous’ record this EURO. They would become the first team to reach the final 4 without scoring from open play.
However, Deschamps’ men have also managed to portray their consistency in recent years. They have reached the finals of 3 out of 4 previous major international tournaments.
Possible deciding factors:
Although La Roja were able to beat the host nation, the victory would come at a price. Spain will be without promising young central midfielder Pedri. The 21-year old would be ruled out after enduring a blow from Toni Kroos’ challenge. Dani Olmo will be replacing him.
Veteran full back Dani Carvajal will also be missing the game owing to his suspension in the final 8 fixture. Robin Le Normand will also be unavailable after getting successive yellow cards. Meanwhile, France are handed a boost as Marcus Thuram will be available for selection. However, Kylian Mbappe is yet to leave his mark on the tournament. He has only bagged one goal so far which would also be from the penalty spot.
Didier Deschamps would speak of the importance of not taking the fixture lightly. He said:
โWe’re in the semifinals and it’s something we shouldn’t take for granted, even if we may be used to it recently. Now we go to win it.โ
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente would back his players stating:
โMy players are insatiable. There’s always room for improvement, of course, but we can’t question their pride, quality and commitment.โย
Spain are the only top team in the tournament who have shown great team chemistry and understanding. If they continue to do so, there will be no stopping them. Whereas, France will have to give it their all to beat this Spain side. The winners will either face England or the Netherlands in the final at Berlin.
Both Spain and France have a real chance of going all the way in the EURO. All eyes will be on the Allianz Arena as two European heavyweights go head to head for the trophy!
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