Holders Spain just about came through their opening group game with the Czech Republic on Monday unscathed as they had Gerard Pique to thank for securing all three points thank to his 86th minute header. That was the solitary goal as Spain’s bid to win the tournament for a third successive time got off to a winning start
Once again Spain looked impressive with their quick passing game but they could and should have had the game wrapped up a lot sooner. A mixture of a resolute Czech backline and woeful Spanish finishing made the game harder than it needed to be
The newly shorn Alvaro Morata was the main culprit on Monday afternoon, his performance came in for some skepticism due to the fact he was caught offside so many times. Vicente Del Bosque’s side were more of a threat once Adrian Aduriz came on but you would imagine that Morata will once again be trusted with the role of attacker from the start
As for Turkey they lost their opening game to Croatia on Sunday thanks to a moment of magic from Luka Modric. His dipping 30 yard volley was the difference in what was at times quite a scrappy game, more so because of Turkey’s spoiling tactics and habit of giving away needless free kicks
You would imagine that it will need to be more of the same if they are to disrupt the Spanish momentum this evening. Although Manager Fatih Terim will also be hoping from more of Arda Turan and Hakan Calhanoglu this time around
Turan was hauled off after 65 minutes due to an apparent lack of match fitness while Calhanoglu was disappointing by his own standards. The Bayer Leverkusen man being guilty of poor set piece delivery and not really giving his side an attacking outlet
Turan who has played in Spain for 5 years now will be more than familiar with his opponents today, it’s fair to say his move to Barcelona hasn’t been a particularly successful and neither was his start to Euro 2016 so he will be looking to show what he is capable of and the kind of talents than secured him a move to the Catalan giants in the first place
Spain will go into the game as clear favourites and win for them would secure their place in the Round of 16. Will Turkey use the Czech Republic’s tactics as a blueprint for their own game Tonight I hope not as I’d rather they came out of their shell and had a go but that could leave them susceptible at the back. I’ll go for a Spain win and qualification out of the group stage wrapped up.