Welcome to the highlights of the Euro 2020 Group E clash between Spain and Slovakia from the Estadio La Cartuja in Seville.
After the early penalty miss from Alvaro Morata, it was Spain all the way as it dominated possession and was helped by twin own goals from Slovakia.
The resounding win means a mouth-watering clash against Croatia next week awaits. Join us for that. Until them, Goodbye and take care.
The referee blows the final whistle and Spain makes the knockouts cut in resounding fashion. With Sweden beating Poland 3-2 in the other game, it means Spain finishes 2nd and will face Croatia in the Round of 16.
4 MINUTES ADDED TO THE CLOCK! Enough to cause more damage?
CHANGE for Slovakia as Hamsik goes off and Benes comes on.
86' It has been all Spain since the penalty miss from Morata. The most impressive player on the pitch? Pedri, who has been awesome on the left flank.
81' NEARLY A SIXTH! Pedri and Jordi Alba combine again and the latter puts in a cross and Oyarzabal is unable to slot it in.
10 MINUTES LEFT ON THE CLOCK!
MORE CHANGES FOR Spain: Moreno and Azpilicueta are off and Traore and Oyarzabal come on.
71' GOALLLLLLLL! This is turning into a real rout now. Yet another own goal, this time via Kucka. What a nightmare this is turning out to be for the Slovakians.
Pau Torres and Thiago coming on for Eric Garcia and Sergio Busquets.
FINAL 20 MINUTES OF REGULATION TIME LEFT!
More changes for Slovakia: Haraslin and Mak are off and replaced by Weiss and Suslov.
67' GOALLLLLLLLL! Ferran Torres makes it 4-0 for Spain. What a bit of play this was. Pedri takes a short corner, the ball makes it to the boot of Sarabia who passes it to Torres and his first touch lands in the back of the net.
CHANGE FOR SPAIN as Alvaro Morata is replaced by Ferran Torres.
65' FREE KICK for Spain and the ball is played out at the back and eventually, nothing cleans comes out of it.
62' Haraslin takes an extravagant shot from afar, but the ball flies away.
Jordi Alba has been booked for Spain as this game enters the final 30 minutes of regulatio time.
56' GOALLLLLLLLLLLL! Sarabia makes it 3-0 for Spain with a left-footed shot. Pedri delivers a fine ball in from the left and Sarabia slots it into the right corner.
53' Spain has had more possession of the ball, even though both teams is yet to create any concrete chances in this half.
50' Clear urgency from Slovakia in the early stages of this half. It needs to pull a goal back soon.
Duda and Hromada are off and replaced by Lobotka and Duris.
WELCOME BACK! Both teams have made their way to the middle. Slovakia has made two changes before the half begins.
What a half of football we have just witnessed. Spain dominated most of it, but in the early stages failed to go ahead early after a penalty from Alvaro Morata was saved by Dubravka.
However, the goalkeeper was in the limelight yet again, this time for the wrong reasons as he punched his right hand into his own goal to hand Spain the advantage.
In the dying minutes of the half, Spain went 2-0 ahead courtesy Aymeric Laporte's first-ever goal for Spain. Join us for the second half soon.
The referee blows the whistle and Spain takes a 2-0 lead into the break.
45+3' GOALLLLLLLLL! Laporte scores his first-ever goal for Spain. Fine corner from Pedri and the ball eventually lands in the feet of Moreno, who passes it to Laporte, who heads it into the back of the net.
45+2' Jordi Alba puts in a decent ball from close to the middle, but Morata is well marked and is unable to get something significant out of it.
4 MINUTES ADDED TO THE CLOCK!
45' Koke takes an extravagant shot from a fair distance and the ball flies away.
UNDER 5 MINUTES OF REGULATION TIME LEFT!
39' Its all happening as two Sloavakian players are on the ground after a challenge by Busqeuts, who is expectedly booked for it.
36' CLOSE! First real chance for Slovakia as Duda goes for a solo effort, shoots, but it is saved by Simon. The linesman raises the flag immediately.
35' Spain continues to make the runs on the flanks, but in one of its most recent ones, the Slovakian defence is there to prevent any further damage.
That was really unfortunate. Spain has been the better side and perhaps deserved a goal, but not in that fashion.
30' GOALLLLLL! Spain takes the lead in comical fashion. Sarabia takes the shot, the ball hits the post, but Dubravka hands the ball into his own goal. What a change in fortunes.
28' Hromada is down after a challenge by Koke.
The players are back after a hydration break
24' CLOSE! Morata takes a shot but Dubravka pushes it away. Spain has had the better of chances so far.
22' The scoreline may still be 0-0 still, but Slovakia has hardly created anything on the Spain half yet.
19' NEARLY! Pedri puts in a fine ball in from the left to Sarabia who is unable to make the most of it.
18' No clear chances for either sides post that penalty miss from Morata. How Spain would rue that chance of going 1-0 in front.
Spain has now missed each of its last five penalties across all competitions. It's their second miss of EURO 2020.
11' SAVED!!! Dubravka saves the penalty taken by Morata! That was a poor attempt from the Juventus forward. Morata going on the goalkeeper's right hand side and the Newcastle man saves it to prevent Slovakia from going 1-0 down.
There is a VAR check on for a potential penalty for a challenge by Hromada on Koke. The referee has gone near the monitor to take a closer look. IT IS A PENALTY!
8' Koke puts in a long cross from the right hand side with his left foot, but the ball lands straight in Dubravska's hands.
5' Good play from Spain as Moreno puts in a ball from the left hand side of the pitch to Morata, who is unable to create something better from it. Good hand from Dubravska as well.
2' Both teams exchanging possession in the opening exchanges of this half. Very early days, of course.
HERE WE GO!
Both teams walk out to the middle for the national anthems.
21:15: 15 MINUTES LEFT FOR KICK-OFF!
21:07: No player from both these teams feature in the Golden Boot list so far. However, that could change tonight.
Here is a look at who leads the goal scoring charts so far: EURO 2020 Golden Boot: Top goalscorers standings
21:00: 30 MINUTES LEFT FOR KICK-OFF!
Who stands where and how do the qualification to knockouts work on the final day of the Group stage?
Here is a glance at the points table: EURO 2020: Points table, goals scored, goal difference
There was talk of Busquets playing this game after having recovered from Covid and Luis Enrique has picked him in the side for the contest.
Here are the teams for tonight's game:
Slovakia: Martin Dubravka; Peter Pekarik, Lubomir Satka, Milan Skriniar, Tomas Hubocan; Juraj Kucka, Lukas Haraslin, Marek Hamsik (captain), Jakub Hromada, Robert Mak, Ondrej Duda
Spain: Unai Simon; Cesar Azpilicueta, Eric Garcia, Aymeric Laporte, Jordi Alba; Sergio Busquets (captain), Pedri, Koke; Gerard Moreno, Pablo Sarabia, Alvaro Morata
Spain, winners of the 2008 and 2012 Euros, faces a tricky challenge on Wednesday, having drawn twice in two matches.
Here is a recap of what happened against Poland: Spain in 'huge mess' after Poland draw
Sergio Busquets tested positive for the coronavirus before the tournament began. The midfielder has, since, recovered and returned to the playing squad.
Manager Luis Enrique indicated that he will give his key midfielder an opportunity against Slovakia on Wednesday.
Read: Enrique expected to bring Busquets back for decider against Slovakia
With its rich footballing pedigree, Spain never expected to need a win from its final Group E game against Slovakia to reach the next stage of Euro 2020 — but it is forced to treat Wednesday’s match as a knockout game itself.
The three-time European champion is third in a wide-open Group E where leader Sweden, second-placed Slovakia or fourth-placed Poland can go through to the last 16 knockouts.
Read the preview here: Spain in critical condition but ready for revival vs Slovakia
Squads: Spain:Goalkeepers : David de Gea, Unai Simon, Robert Sanchez
Defenders : Jose Gaya, Jordi Alba, Pau Torres, Aymeric Laporte (Manchester City), Eric Garcia, Diego Llorente, Cesar Azpilicueta
Midfielders : Thiago Alcantara, Sergio Busquets, Koke, Marcos Llorente, Dani Olmo, Rodri, Fabian Ruiz, Pablo Sarabia, Ferran Torres, Adama Traore
Forwards : Alvaro Morata, Gerard Moreno, Mikel Oyarzabal, Pedri
Slovakia:Goalkeepers : Martin Dubravka, Dusan Kuciak, Marek Rodak
Defenders : David Hancko, Tomas Hubocan, Martin Koscelnik, Peter Pekarik, Lubomir Satka, Milan Skriniar, Martin Valjent, Denis Vavro
Midfielders : Laszlo Benes, Ondrej Duda, Jan Gregus, Marek Hamsik, Lukas Haraslin, Jakub Hromada, Patrik Hrosovsky, Juraj Kucka, Stanislav Lobotka, Tomas Suslov, Vladimir Weiss
Forwards : Robert Bozenik, Michal Duris, Robert Mak, Ivan Schranz
Watch UEFA EURO 2020 LIVE on Sony Ten 2 (English) and Sony Ten 4 (Tamil & Telugu) channels from June 12.
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