SPAIN are back trying to win yet another major international trophy at Euro 2020 but they must first overcome Sweden in their opening game.
La Furia Roja have been on the slide since 2014 when they were dumped out of the World Cup at the group stages, but they’ll be looking to claim back the Euros title they lost to France five years ago this summer.
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Spain’s clash with Sweden will get underway from 8pm UK time on Monday, June 14 in Seville.
What’s the form?
Spain head into Euro 2020 in rather scintillating form, having battered Lithuania 4-0 in their final warm-up game.
They drew with Portugal 0-0 just before that but in their last Nations League clash with Germany, Luis Enrique’s side ran out 6-0 winners.
Spain easily qualified from the Euro qualifying group, coincidentally ahead of their group stage opponents Sweden.
The Swedes finished in second place, four points above Norway who missed out on a play-off place.
Sweden beat Poland 4-2 in their final Euro 2020 warm-up game.
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Who’s in and who’s out?
The big news from Luis Enrique’s squad is that for the first time ever, there are no Real Madrid players in the squad for a major tournament.
Sergio Ramos was left out of the team in favour of Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte, who switched allegiances from France to Spain earlier this year.
Expect Laporte to start, with the likes of Alvaro Morata and Gerard Moreno up front for Spain.
Sweden will be without Zlatan Ibrahimpvic after he sustained an injury while playing for AC Milan toward the end of their Serie A season.
The Swedish FA said: “Zlatan has informed [head coach] Janne Andersson that his injury will stop him from participating in the European Championships this summer.
“Get well, Zlatan, we hope to see you on the football field again soon!”
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Watch out for…
The fact that both Spain and Sweden will be without their two most-experienced players this summer in Sergio Ramos and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Spain boss Luis Enrique has also had to deal with coronavirus issues with his squad, as Sergio Busquets tested positive recently, though it’s hoped it’s only a false positive.
In the meantime, Enrique has called up Brais Mendez, Rodrigo Moreno, Carlos Soler, Raul Albiol and Pablo Fornals as precautions.
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If the game’s rubbish…
Then look out for Spain’s starting striker Alvaro Morata’s wife Alice Campello.
The 26-year-old Italian stunner has three children with Morata, whom she married in 2017 when the Juventus man was playing for Chelsea.
Campello has a whopping 2.4million followers on Instagram and can often be seen at Morata’s games. So expect to see plenty of her this summer at Euro 2020.
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Betting odds
- Spain vs Sweden to DRAW 16/5 @ PaddyPower
- Both teams to score 5/4 @ Betfair
- Morata to score first 10/3 @ William Hill
