/** * https://gist.github.com/samthor/64b114e4a4f539915a95b91ffd340acc */ (function() { var check = document.createElement('script'); if (!('noModule' in check) && 'onbeforeload' in check) { var = false; document.addEventListener('beforeload', function(e) { if (e.target === check) { = true; } else if (!e.target.hasAttribute('nomodule') || !) { return; } e.preventDefault(); }, true); check.type = 'module'; check.src = '.'; document.head.appendChild(check); check.remove(); } }());

Spain 0-0 Sweden: Should Spain be worried by Euro 2020 opening draw?

  • Published
Related topics
Media caption,

Highlights: Both sides unable to convert clear-cut chances in goalless draw

Uefa Euro 2020 on the BBC

Dates: 11 June-11 July. Venues: Amsterdam, Baku, Bucharest, Budapest, Copenhagen, Glasgow, London, Munich, Rome, Seville, St Petersburg. Coverage: Live on BBC TV, BBC Radio 5 Live, iPlayer and the BBC Sport website and app. Click here for more details

After a bold squad selection that angered large parts of the Spanish media, it was never going to take much for the pressure to increase on manager Luis Enrique.

So Spain's 0-0 draw against Sweden - which leaves them behind Slovakia in Group E - was far from an ideal start to Euro 2020.

At the final whistle in Seville, the hosts were whistled by some home fans and the players left talking about "shutting up" their critics.

So are Spain in a spot of trouble or will they come good?

Could striking problems undermine Spain's chances?

Alvaro Morata shoots wideImage source, Getty Images
Image caption,

Alvaro Morata's selection was one of the big talking points before the game

Spain enjoyed near total domination against Sweden: 85% possession and a remarkable 917 es - the highest figures in a European Championship match since 1980 - which is as far back as Opta's records go for such data.

But for all their fine approach play, they lacked a cutting edge.

In the first half alone, Dani Olmo saw a header tipped away, Koke sliced an effort past the post and Alvaro Morata, the number nine, side-footed limply wide after being allowed in on goal by a defensive mistake.

Morata's selection had been one of the key dilemmas for the manager going into the match and he was picked ahead of Gerard Moreno, the Villarreal forward who scored 30 goals last season.

It did not pay off.

"If 10 es equalled a goal, how far ahead would Spain be">