It must have been an interesting night of watching for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and his staff as they saw a current Manchester United player and a potential replacement go head-to-head at Euro 2020.
Fresh from his Europa League triumph with Villarreal, Pau Torres lined up alongside Manchester City’s Aymeric Laporte in the heart of the Spain defence, while Victor Lindelof was on duty for Sweden.
Torres has been strongly linked with a move to United this summer as a new partner for skipper Harry Maguire.
That would see him effectively replace Lindelof as a first choice centre-back.
But how did they both fare up against each other on the big stage at Euro 2020? Mirror Football brings you the lowdown.
Victor Lindelof
Plenty of the talk around Lindelof from the Spain clash was his new-found ability to take long throws.
But his overall performance was certainly not one to be joked about, as he stood firm against the very threatening Spain attack, backed up by a midfield that passed the ball with unbelievable ease.
Playing at the heart of a perhaps a much deeper-lying back four, Lindelof looked very reliable when called upon.
Should Man Utd replace Victor Lindelof with Pau Torres? Have your say in the comments below
The 26-year-old looked a little unconvincing at times last season, but certainly grew in confidence as the year went on, and he showed that he might well be up to the task in his nation’s first group game.
Lindelof’s Premier League experience make him a valuable asset to the club, and even if Torres were to sign, with performances like Monday night’s, he’d certainly still be in the running to start plenty of games.
Pau Torres
Torres gave as composed of a performance at centre-back as you could ever wish to see.
The 24-year-old never looked like he was under any danger from the Swedish defenders when he was on the ball.
Torres made 61 passes in the first half, more than the whole of the Sweden team, as Spain completely dominated possession of the ball.
In terms of pure defending, the no. 4 looked fairly solid, though Alexander Isak did get the better of him once or twice.
Torres will also have done himself a real favour after giving a stellar account of himself in the Europa League final success, which will surely still be weighing on Solskjaer’s mind.
Who came out on top?
The Group E clash was hardly a fair fight, with Spain the heavy favourites, and dominating the ball for large periods of the game in their trademark fashion.
In fairness though, both men certainly did no harm to their reputation as they provided some of the best performances on the pitch.
Torres’ composure on the ball was the main thing that stood out from his point of view, with question marks potentially still hanging over his physicality in the Premier League.
But lining up in a defensive Swedish side, Lindelof can certainly take plenty of heart from his showing, and will be hoping he’s done enough to show Solskjaer he is up to the challenge next season.
