Euro 2020: Sweden hold Spain to a goalless draw; earn a valuable point

A lot had been said about Luis Enrique’s player selection ahead of the Euros. He had left veteran defender Sergio Ramos out of the squad which caused a lot of outrage in the Spanish media. The former Barcelona boss had not picked a single Real Madrid player in the squad either, which hinted at some sort of bias.

Spain were going to be without Sergio Busquets against Sweden as he had contracted corona virus. Despite the absence of Busquets, Thiago didn’t find a place in the starting line-up which surprised many. Thiago wasn’t the only established Premier League star who didn’t make the 11 as Manchester United’s David de Gea and Chelsea’s Cesar Azpilicueta had to watch the match from the bench.

The match panned out as expected in the first half an hour as La Roja dominated possession of the ball, while Sweden looked to play on the break. At certain points in the first half, Spain had as much as 90% of the ball which illustrated how strong they were in recycling the possession.

Koke and Morata had decent chances to put the three-time European Champions ahead in the first half, but their shots didn’t even test the goalkeeper. Sweden had one great chance just before half time when Aleksander Isak, who plies his trade in the La Liga, hit the post.

In the second half, Spain didn’t look as fluid as before despite having much of the ball. They didn’t create enough chances to warrant a goal. Sweden came into the game to sit back and counter attack which they were able to do on a few occasions.

Marcus Berg had a great opportunity to give Sweden the lead but he missed an open goal. The game was pretty dull as it lacked dynamism and it rightly ended in a 0-0 scoreline.

From the Sweden point of view, it was a point earned as they weren’t expected to beat Spain. Aleksander Isak was very impressive and earned plaudits from the pundits. Spain will have to rethink their final third play if they are to breach the backline of teams who will sit back and play on the counter.