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Arsenal v Atlético Madrid: Champions League semi-final, second leg – live | Champions League
Key events
Half-time advertising break. The Guardian has kicked off a new chapter in puzzles with the launch of its first daily football game, On the ball. It is now live in the app for both iOS and Android … so what are you waiting for?
HALF TIME: Arsenal 1-0 Atletico Madrid (agg 2-1)
Well, that’s changed everything! Arsenal will be heading to Budapest as things stand. They deserve their lead on the balance of play: Atleti have shown next to nothing in attack.
45 min +1: “One-nil to the Arsenal” is much better than North London Forever, isn’t it? The crowd sing their thing.
GOAL! Arsenal 1-0 Atletico Madrid (Saka 45); agg 2-1
Arsenal break the deadlock! Gyökeres chases a ball slipped down the right. He nearly rounds the out-rushing Oblak, but the keeper does just enough. Gyökeres crosses for Trossard, coming in from the other flank. Trossard chests down, and there are a few groans as he takes his sweet time to line up a shot. But it’s worth the wait, because when he eventually takes one, hard and low, Oblak parries, and the ball breaks to Saka, who forces home from a couple of yards!
43 min: Alvarez chases after a long ball down the middle. He’s not getting past Saliba and Gabriel. He goes over, claiming an unfair nudge, but the linesman tells him to get up.
42 min: White and Eze combine crisply down the inside right, but the resulting low shot towards the near post is easily snaffled by Oblak.
41 min: The pace drops. It had to, at some point. And on the subject of joules burned … “Has anyone done a heatmap of Diego Simeone?” wonders Andy Gordon. “Not for where he goes, but for his calorific output that could sustainably power most of the lighting at the Emirates tonight.” Arteta presumably providing the electricity for Highbury & Islington tube?
39 min: Gyökeres is making his presence felt, bustling all across the front line. This time he hares down the left, but can’t get the better of Griezmann, who celebrates winning a goal kick as he would a kick into the goal. Meanwhile here’s Justin Kavanagh with an investment pitch for the Dragons: “Both Arteta and Simeone have been wildly leaping and gesticulating practically ON the pitch throughout this tie. It’s well past time for the coach-on-a-bungee-cord innovation to be implemented, whereby reaching the edge of the technical area will automatically spring them back onto the bench. Or collars and electric fences. Someone PLEASE have a word with Monsieur Wenger.”
37 min: Eze tries to dribble his way through a six-man thicket on the edge of the Atleti box. Full marks for ambition, but that caper was never going to bear fruit.
36 min: … and from the corner, Rice takes another whack, blootering the ball into the nearest defender. Atleti clear. “This was a trade mark in Madrid that I was praying wouldn’t be repeated at home,” begins Pete Mumola. “The amount of backpasses not just in their half but inside the box is begging for a mistake. And with this scoreline, one mistake could end the tie.”
35 min: Two Arsenal penalty appeals in quick succession. Griezmann nudges Trossard softly in the back. Trossard goes over, but it would have been as soft as the shove. Then Rice claims handball as his shot hits Hancko, but that’s in the chest rather than on the arm. VAR checks both and waves play on. But it’ll be a corner to Arsenal, from the right as a result of Rice’s deflected shot.
33 min: Gabriel loops a cross into the Atleti mixer from the left. It’s deflected, and easy pickings for Oblak. Atleti counter, but the ball doesn’t find Griezmann in space. Neither team quite clicking in the final third.
32 min: Atleti spend some more precious time on the ball. They’re slowly getting back into the game after that period of Arsenal pressure.
30 min: Oblak plays a careless ball out of his box. Eze is this close to intercepting. Atleti go straight up the other end, Llorente freed into the Arsenal box on the right. He cuts back and shoots. Blocked. His cross is too long for Lookman. The flag then pops up for offside. Relief for Arsenal, though had Llorente scored, VAR would have surely got the rulers out and overruled the flag. Llorente was being played on by White.
28 min: Pubill stands on the prone Calafiori’s hand. Accidental? Let’s give him the benefit of the doubt.
27 min: Arsenal are now making Atleti do a lot of chasing. The visitors finally intercept, and though Lookman’s probe down the left goes nowhere, that’s a welcome breather for the visitors.
25 min: A nice stat courtesy of Amazon Prime: Arsenal have failed to score from their previous 42 Champions League corners. Well, make that 43 now, but this one comes close to snapping that run, Lewis-Skelly barging into the box from the left and whistling a low ball across the face of goal that just needs touching home. But there’s nobody in red there.
24 min: Atleti started the better, but Arsenal are beginning to take control now. Rice powers his way past Griezmann on the left touchline, and reaches the byline before his cutback earns another Arsenal corner.
22 min: Gyökeres and Saka get in each other’s way down the inside-right channel. A shame, because Gyökeres looked to have the better of Koke, but clanked into his confused pal. Koke makes off with the ball to clear.
21 min: Alvarez looks to spin Rice on the centre spot and is clipped to the ground. Now it’s Diego Simeone’s turn to pull some touchline shapes.
19 min: White slips a cute defence-splitter down the inside-right channel. Saka cuts back but can’t find Gyökeres in the middle. The ball’s only half cleared, and Gabriel has a pop from the edge of the D. He pulls his low drive wide right. Oblak had it covered. Mikel Arteta almost spins through an entire 360 degrees in a mixture of excitement and frustration.
17 min: … Rice loops long to Saka, on the right-hand corner of the six-yard box. Saka’s all alone, but can’t adjust his body and scuffs a poor attempt well wide of both goal and side netting.
16 min: … but it’s Arsenal who win the first corner of the evening, Gyökeres threatening to skin Le Normand for pace down the left. He nearly does so, but has to settle for the set piece. From which …
15 min: Arsenal have had 74 percent of the possession so far. But it’s Atleti who have posed the biggest threat. Diego Simeone will be relatively pleased with his team’s start.
14 min: Raya plays a dangerous ball out from his box, and Saka does well to deal with it under pressure from a two-player pincer movement. He rolls back to the keeper, who distributes safely this time. The visitors are pressing hard during these early exchanges.
13 min: That close shave has got the crowd a little bit jittery. Jangling nerves almost audible, the volume dropping for the first time since kick-off.
11 min: Llorente outmuscles Lewis-Skelly 30 yards from the Arsenal goal, forcing the makeshift midfielder to bring him down. A free kick out on the left. Everyone lines up on the edge of the box. The ball’s worked to the right, where Griezmann reaches the byline and cuts back. Simeone, steaming in like that tifo ship, tries to force the ball into the bottom right, but Rice extends a leg and his lunge is enough to make Simeone clank wide right. Atleti the first team to come close.
9 min: Calafiori finds himself in a pocket of space, 25 yards out, and elects to shoot. As the ball sails high and wide left, Trossard, in acres of space to the defender’s left, gesticulates in irritation. Calafiori took the wrong option there.
8 min: Griezmann wedges Simeone into space down the right. Simeone crosses low for Alvarez, who arrives just in time to poke wide right of goal. Atleti bear their teeth for the first time.
7 min: Eze faffs around in midfield, and it’s his turn to be stripped of possession, by Griezmann. But the whistle goes for a foul. That’s a bit soft, and Arsenal get away with one, because Griezmann was off on the counter.
5 min: Pubill dallies on the ball and has it picked clean off his toe by Trossard. The steal doesn’t lead to anything other than an enthusiastic cheer from the home fans, but the pace is frenetic and that’s a reminder that nobody will want to be caught snoozing tonight.
3 min: Arsenal get their foot on the ball and stroke it around the back. One of those It’s Our Gaff statements.
2 min: Saka is caught late by Koke. Nothing too serious, but it’s one of those We’re Here statements. The noise, though!
Atletico Madrid kick off. Arsenal are kicking towards the Clock End during this first half. Meanwhile Randy Gatley would like to discuss the crests on those pennants: “Couldn’t agree more. How did Arsenal overlook two baller crests to choose the rejected Load Cannons button design for an unsuccessful Windows 95 Naval Warfare Simulator? Right up there with Napoli’s ‘No button for the staff intranet polling module’. After the shame of this defeat, a Champions League final hardly seems to matter.”
The teams are out! And the band strikes up …
♫ ♪ ♬ North London forever
Whatever the weather
These streets are our own
And my heart will leave you never
My blood will forever run through the sto-oo-oone ♪ 🎵 🎶
♫ ♪ ♬ Die Meister
Die Besten
Les grandes équipes
The chaaaaaaaaaampions! ♪ 🎵 🎶
Arsenal wear their famous red shirts with white sleeves. Atleti are in second-choice dark blue. The Emirates is bouncing. Up pops a tifo, exciting and new. It’s a boat! Arsenal’s proud ship depicted full-steam ahead of a defeated flotilla of European giants. It reads: COME ABOARD, WE’RE EXPECTING YOU OVER LAND AND SEA. Kick-off coming right up!
Pre-match postbag. “Took my nephews to see the Arsenal team bus arrive and what an excellent idea from REDaction Gooners. The ground is already buzzing with plenty of time to go to continue building. Trust the boys to get the job done tonight, hopefully early doors with no injuries” – Jakob Mathiszig-Lee
“Lots of red and white striped shirts on view as I travelled from Camden to Baker Street by bus earlier. Feels like a proper cup tie night” – Gary Naylor
“Hoping to see Ben White stamping magnetic boots over the Atletico badge on the side of that bus, like Wallace in The Wrong Trousers” – Alan Baverstock
“Two great teams. Two absolute gentlemen managers. Two teams that deserve to win the big cup but surprisingly never managed. No better prospect for a neutral. Arsenal carries the home advantage but there is absolutely no margin for error. The prospect of landing the league and bagging the coveted double must weigh on Arsenal. That could, in fact, hand over the advantage to Simeone” – krishnamoorthy v
“A thorough and entertaining introduction as usual (crawl, crawl) but with one absolute howler: Arsenal had to use up precisely no energy in beating Fulham at the weekend. We were so appalling that Arsenal did not need to rise from their bathchairs to administer a thrashing” – Richard Hirst
“I’ve heard some talk online about whoever wins tomorrow — Bayern or PSG — is going to win the whole tournament. Me myself, I’m not so sure. I am an avowed Bayern fan and have been enjoying this season so far (Vincent Kompany, who would have known? Certainly not me when he was appointed) but I can’t help feeling that, if we move on tomorrow, we won’t win it all. Our squad is exhausted. We have key injuries. We still can’t defend a corner to save our lives. Manuel Neuer is either the best player on the pitch or plays like he has never seen a pitch before. Arsenal capitalised on this in the group stage. Who’s to say that they (or Atletico) can’t do it again?” – Rebekah Voss
Pennant Watch. There’s nothing wrong, in and of itself, with the commemorative gift stand-in captain Bukayo Saka will hand over to his opposite number Koke. But that badge. Come on, man. Stand it next to the time-honoured Victoria Concodria Crescit crest and weep. And that’s before we get to the stratospherically sexy Art Deco A-football-C logo. Ever since that fateful rebrand, Herbert Chapman has been spinning elegantly in his grave, nearly a quarter of a style-free century on.
Atletico Madrid’s offering, however, is a thing of timeless beauty. Enrique Collar would have been proud to hand that over. Arsenal are favourites to go through tonight, but they’ve lost this very important pre-match skirmish.
Mikel Arteta, barely able to suppress an excited grin, speaks to TNT Sports. “I have never seen an atmosphere like this … when we entered the stadium … great to see … enthusiasm … [Myles Lewis-Skelly] has played many times in [midfield] … he is very flexible … we need to be very adaptable … very aggressive with the ball … I hope [Bukayo Saka] can maintain the form he showed a few days ago and help us win the game … [Atletico] can manage moments in games … we have prepared … referee decisions are out of our control, let’s hope this time they can get it right … let’s go for it, let’s do it!”
Atleti’s big worry was the fitness of Julian Alvarez – but the former Manchester City striker starts. He had been taken off with an injured ankle during the first leg, and missed the game at Valencia at the weekend. His first-leg equaliser made him the first Atleti player to score ten goals in a single Champions League campaign, and the fastest Argentinian to 25 goals overall. He got there in 41 appearances; Lionel Messi needed 42. Atleti make just the one change from their first-leg starting XI: Robin Le Normand comes in for Johnny Cardoso, who drops to the bench.
The big news for Arsenal: Miles Lewis-Skelly is rewarded for his impressive showing in midfield against Fulham with a starting spot. His replacement of Martin Zubimendi is one of five changes from the starting line-up in Madrid: Eberechi Eze, Bukayo Saka, Riccardo Calafiori and Leandro Trossard also start tonight, at the expense of Noni Madueke, Gabriel Martinelli, Piero Hincapié and captain Martin Ødegaard, who all drop to the bench. Kai Havertz has shaken off his injury concerns and is named as a sub.
The teams
Arsenal: Raya, White, Saliba, Gabriel, Calafiori, Rice, Lewis-Skelly, Saka, Eze, Trossard, Gyokeres.
Subs: Kepa, Setford, Mosquera, Hincapie, Odegaard, Gabriel Jesus, Martinelli, Norgaard, Madueke, Havertz, Zubimendi, Dowman.
Atlético Madrid: Oblak, Pubill, Le Normand, Hancko, Ruggeri, Simeone, Llorente, Koke, Lookman, Griezmann, Alvarez.
Subs: Musso, Gimenez, Mendoza, Johnny, Sorloth, Baena, Almada, Lenglet, Molina, Vargas, Bonar, Diaz.
Referee: Daniel Siebert (Germany)
On The Buses. Both teams have arrived at the Emirates, their team buses winding their way through a crowd in full party mode on the streets of Holloway. Atleti stayed in a different hotel to the one they used for their aforementioned 4-0 thumping in October, the five-star Courthouse Hotel in Shoreditch as opposed to the four-star Marriott Hotel in Regents Park. Diego Simeone was asked about the switch, amid reports of his ordering it on the grounds of jinxing, superstition, bad luck, etc., and deadpanned: “The hotel was cheaper.” The smile he flashed seconds later suggested he wasn’t telling the whole story. Whether he was similarly smiling last night as sleep-bothering fireworks were set off near that hotel has not been reported.
Here’s some more statistical encouragement for Arsenal. They’ve lost just two of their last 23 games in the Champions League, winning 17; are unbeaten in the competition this season; and have lost just one of their last 24 home matches in Europe. Atleti by contrast have won only two of their last 13 matches against English teams, losing the last four away. But they have won six of their last seven semi-finals in Europe, a fact we add because it is possible to have too much statistical encouragement, confidence often leading to second guessing, feelings of suspicion, then finally full-blown paranoia. Even keel, everyone, even keel.
Arsenal will be buoyed by Manchester City’s failure to beat Everton last night, the holy grail of a first Premier League title in 22 years within touching distance now. But they had to use up some precious energy beating Fulham at the weekend, while Diego Simeone had the luxury of resting his entire first-choice team in seeing off Valencia, making 11 changes from the first leg. Still, if you can’t get yourself pumped up at the business end of the Champions League, when can you? And Arsenal are pumped up.
After last week’s result, both clubs have statistical history on their side. Arsenal have won six of their last nine European ties in which they’ve drawn away in the first leg, while Atleti have won six of their last ten European ties in which they’ve drawn the first leg at home. Meanwhile Arsenal are one from one in Champions League semi-finals against opposition from La Liga, having beaten Villarreal 1-0 on aggregate in 2006 … but Atleti are three from three against Premier League opponents at the same stage in European competition, beating Liverpool on away goals in the 2009-10 Europa League, Chelsea 3-1 on aggregate in the 2013-14 Champions League, and Arsenal themselves in the 2017-18 Europa League. So it turns out we are at the Something’s Got To Give stage after all.
Preamble
The two biggest names in European football never to win the continent’s biggest prize meet for a place in the final. It’s 20 years since Arsenal found themselves 14 minutes from glory, only for Barcelona to hit them with a couple of sucker punches; their continental roll of honour (one Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, one Cup Winners’ Cup) is absurdly short given the size and status of the grand old club. Atlético Madrid have made more of an imprint in Europe, with three Europa Leagues, a Cup Winners’ Cup and three Super Cups, but the big one has eluded them as well: they’ve suffered the trophy being snatched from under their nose in excruciating circumstances not just once but three times, in 1974, 2014 and 2016, insult being bundled up with injury on the latter two occasions by good old Real Madrid.
We’re not quite at the Something’s Got To Give stage, seeing this is just the semi, and whoever gets through will be strong second favourites against either Bayern Munich or PSG. But something’s got to give at some point, surely, and reaching the final is the necessary step in making that dream possible. So here we are. Atleti were the better side last week in Madrid, yet Arsenal were nevertheless a contentious penalty decision away from a priceless victory. Mikel Arteta’s men were certainly the better side when the teams met during the league phase last October, though, scoring four goals in 14 second-half minutes. So both teams will fancy their chances. Kick-off is at 8pm BST. Extra time and penalties not beyond the realms. It’s on!
The family of Shaun Burton, say they are “devastated” by the loss.
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Key events
In the opening half an hour against Cape Verde, Mikel Oyarzabal, the centre-forward, did not get a single touch.
Kyle Green gets in touch: “Your highlighting of Lalas and his absurdity is something that has prevented me from wanting to watch the coverage on Fox. While every channel has its pros and cons I just can’t.
“I’m 45 and probably the youngest of anyone who remembers him as a player instead of an opinionated insert insult here. As for the match this could be more competitive than it looks on paper Spain need a win the pressure is on them. Saudi Arabia could hold out for a draw and see what happens in their last match. “
News from the England camp, and it seems to be good news on Declan Rice.
“I’m ready and fit, raring to go. I was feeling a little bit of neural pain in my hamstring, which I was managing from after Christmas with Arsenal for a very long time. Obviously, not a lot of people would have known that. It was all behind-the-scenes stuff but it was a smart decision.
“In the end, that last 20 minutes is probably where you pick up the most, and it’s where you play a 70-minute match. But that last 20 is where you really feel your body going for it. And I think it was a smart decision because the last few days I felt really, really good.”
Alex Reid has penned today’s weekend special Football Daily.
Portugal v Uzbekistan on Tuesday enticingly pits the incredibly nice, incredibly 41-year-old-superstar-tolerant Roberto Martínez against Fabio Cannavaro, who’s won a Ballon d’Or as a player and the Chinese Super League as a coach. While the fixture following that game really does see the dream of Thomas Tuchel – in his first international job with England – taking on Queiroz, who is in charge of his ninth national side with Ghana.
The expected formations are 4-2-3-1 for Spain, and 5-3-2 for the Saudi Arabians.
The Saudi team features two Donis changes: Ali Lajami, a defender, and Nasser Al Dawsari, a midfielder, are preferred to Mohammed Abu Al Shamat and Mohamed Kanno. You may recall Salem Al Dawsari, the Saudi captain, as the man who scored the winner against Argentina.
An entertaining read, even for those of us who have just seen the clips.
In a conversation where his co-panelist is casually reminiscing about his days playing alongside Messi or exchanging shirts with Ronaldo Nazário at the World Cup, what exactly is Lalas going to talk about – coming on as a second-half substitute for Earnie Stewart in a friendly against Scotland in 1998? Helping the Kansas City Wizards finish last in the 1999 MLS Western Conference? Did Lalas enjoy an elite playing career? No. But does he do the background reading that could compensate for his relative lack of standing in a conversation with titans like Henry and Zlatan? Also no. But is he charming or funny or charismatic or otherwise magnetic on screen? Eh, no.
For the record, I once interviewed Alexi Lalas on the challenge of playing against Romario in the 1994 World Cup. He had this to say:
“He could kill you in so many different ways. If you remember from that World Cup, he scored so many types of goals. That ranged from solo adventures to an outside-of-the-right-foot half-volley off a corner kick. Romario was both the most difficult to play against and the best that I have faced.
“Roberto Baggio was doing his thing, but in terms of consistency and living up to the hype, he [Romario] was the best. As with all stars, there was a moment when the fans sit up in their seats, and that was a feeling I got with Romario. When it got close to him and the potential for his involvement in a play was there, everybody sat up in their seat. They knew that something spectacular would be happening.”
Saturday’s match reports here.
The Saudi Arabia coach, and Blackburn legend, Georgios Donis, spoke about the challenges facing his team: “Spain is not the same team when Yamal or Williams are on the bench.
“While they still have plenty of possession, they lack the individual one-on-one penetration when these two are missing. I’m not saying it’s a problem for Spain, but when those players are missing, they play in a different way. We saw this very clearly against Cape Verde.
“We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and it’s very important that when you play against these kinds of teams, you should enjoy the experience and respect the opponent, but not too much.
“It is very hard for any team playing against Spain to have any time in possession. So what we must do is to be more in control of our movement and compact, and when the ball goes through the lines, be able to defend dynamically.
“It’s nice to see miracles in football, and we’ve seen favourites losing against underdogs. Of course, it’s great for Saudi football to have a great memory of the result against Argentina, but we aren’t drawing anything from that.
“I think we’ll feel more pressure in that [Cape Verde] game than we will against Spain.”
The Spain coach, Luis De La Fuente had this to say in his Saturday press conference: “This generation of footballers is highly competitive and really fired up… It’s going to be a completely different story,” he said at his pre-match press conference on Saturday. There is no drama or crisis. The bottom line is simply that we need to win tomorrow.”
Four changes for Spain: Lamine Yamal, Pedro Porro, Dani Olmo and Alex Baena also come into the side with Marcos Llorente, Fabian Ruiz, Ferran Torres and Gavi dropping out.
The teams – Lamine Yamal starts
Spain: Simon, Porro, Cubarsi, Laporte, Cucurella, Gonzalez, Rodri, Yamal, Olmo, Baena, Oyarzabal. Subs: Raya, Joan Garcia, Pubill, Grimaldo, Eric Garcia, Llorente, Merino, Torres, Fabian, Gavi, Pino, Williams, Zubimendi, Munoz, Iglesias.
Saudi Arabia: Al Owais, Abdulhamid, Tambakti, Lajami, Al Amri, Al Harbi, Nasser Al Dawsari, Al Khaibari, Al Juwayr, Al Buraikan, Salem Al Dawsari. Subs: Al Aqidi, Al Kassar, Majrashi, Yahya, Al Shehri, Al Boushal, Kadesh, Al Johani, Al Ghannam, Al Hajji, Al Hamdan, Mandash, Kanno, Thakri, Abu Al Shamat.
Referee: Raphael Claus (Brazil)
Perhaps one of the Saudi -players can write themselves into this high-grade selection?
Perhaps it can be their goalkeeper.
Madrid screening of Spain v Saudi Arabia cancelled due to heat
The public screening of Spain’s World Cup match against Saudi Arabia in Madrid on Sunday has been cancelled because of extreme heat forecast for the Spanish capital, officials said.
The match, due to kick off at 6pm local time on Sunday, had been scheduled to be shown on a giant screen installed by the Spanish football federation (RFEF) at a fan zone in Plaza de Colón in central Madrid.
Madrid city council and the federation decided to cancel the screening after national weather agency AEMET issued an orange heat warning – the second-highest level – for the Madrid region, with temperatures forecast to reach 40C.
“The decision has been taken with the aim of protecting the health of attendees, event staff and support services involved in the event,” Madrid city hall said in a statement, apologising for any inconvenience.
Officials urged supporters to watch the match indoors in air-conditioned spaces and avoid prolonged exposure to the heat.
Large parts of Spain are experiencing unusually high temperatures for June as a mass of hot air from North Africa moves across the Iberian Peninsula.
A total of 13 of Spain’s 17 regions are on orange alert for heat on Sunday, while the northern Basque Country bordering France is on red alert, the highest level.
Authorities advised residents and visitors to take precautions during the heatwave, including drinking water regularly, staying in cool environments, limiting outdoor physical activity during the hottest hours of the day and taking extra care of vulnerable people. AFP
Can Saudi Arabia repeat the magic of 2022?
Argentina arrived in Qatar on a 36-game unbeaten run. When Lionel Messi opened the scoring from the penalty spot after 10 minutes, a comfortable afternoon seemed in the offing. Saleh al-Shehri and Salem al-Dawsari had other ideas, Argentina had three goals disallowed for offside in the space of 13 minutes and the greatest comeback in Saudi Arabia football history was made. Argentina went on to lift the trophy, while defeats to Poland and Mexico meant the Saudis did not reach the knock-out stage.
Unai Simon over David Raya is a controversial choice for De la Fuentes. The Arsenal keeper could lay claim to being Europe’s best this season.
“Those at the Champions League final had a few more days, so I got there on the Wednesday night,” Raya says. “I arrived a bit before Fabián [Ruiz]. I was saying hello to some of the others in reception when he arrived. I went to say congratulations; that was almost the first thing I did. I couldn’t really talk [to him] after the final; I just didn’t have it in me. The next day we talked about the game properly. Just two mates chatting … I was happy for him that he could lift the trophy for a second time.”
A high pressure game for the European champions, as Sid Lowe reports.
“If we had scored one, the game would have changed,” Martín Zubimendi said. Immediately after the game, De la Fuente had offered a simple analysis: when the ball doesn’t want to go in it doesn’t want to go in, he insisted. Spain had racked up 27 shots, after all. Ferran Torres had hit the bar and seen another clear opportunity saved. Vozinha, the 40-year-old goalkeeper who stopped that, saved six more and was named the man of the match. “There’s nothing to reproach the team for,” Rodri said. “We generated chances but couldn’t put it away; the good thing is they created almost nothing.”
We wait to see what role Lamine Yamal will play today. His coach would surely like to be able to use him.
The worst mistake we could make would be to compare him to anyone. He is the midst of a process. He has exceptional footballing maturity and lives it all with total naturalness. He has great serenity and strength. We have to let him follow his path but those players who have something different are ready for that. They’re geniuses, like Dalí [who] can paint a picture, or Michelangelo. They’re different. What is exceptional to us, isn’t to them. In those extremes, they feel comfortable. Why? Because they are different. What we think is exceptional, they consider normal.
Preamble
Spain’s campaign did not get off to a flying start, and Luis de la Fuentes may wake up in the night to visions of Cape Verde’s Vozinha. He will have Georgia on his mind ever since Monday. Saudi Arabia are no pushovers and gave Uruguay a scare in their opening match. Memories of downing Argentina four years ago still abound, and so Spain might beware. They can ill afford to go into the final game with Uruguay at a disadvantage. All eyes on Lamine Yamal, whose fitness situation remains opaque, though Spain need their other forwards to come to the party.
Kick-off 5pm UK, 1pm ET, 2am AEST. Join me.
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