Spain seeks another revitalizing win
The Spanish team, after 1-7 against Georgia, receives last-place Cyprus in Granada
MADRID, 11 Sep. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Spanish men’s soccer team will try not to miss vital points this Tuesday in the visit to the Nuevo Los Cármenes Stadium in Granada (8:45 p.m./La 1) of modest Cyprus, bottom of its qualifying group for the Euro 2024 Championship in Germany and against which he will seek a new victory.
Spain arrives at this event with a reinforced spirit after signing a devastating 1-7 in the historically always complicated visit to Georgia, in what was surely the most complete match since the arrival of Luis de la Fuente to the bench and which should serve to go further strengthening the new style that the Riojan wants to implement.
The national team regained second place in Group A of the qualifying phase, with two points ahead of Norway and Georgia, but with one less duel, but is still far from an unstoppable Scotland, which has a full score of points (15), with two more crashes. Therefore, in addition to defending its position, the ‘Red’ wants to secure three new points to get closer to the Scots, who are resting on this day and to those they will host in a key match on October 12 at La Cartuja in Seville.
But first, the current champion of the League of Nations cannot relax in any way against a Cyprus that will stand in Granada with full defeats, the last one last Friday against Scotland (0-3), and already without many possibilities within the group, but that 25 years ago entered the ‘black’ history of national football with that surprising 3-2 victory at the start of the qualifying phase for EURO 2000 and which ended Javier Clemente’s time as coach.
The team arrives ready to avoid any type of surprise that complicates its path to next year’s continental tournament. He offered good football and ‘punch’ in the Boris Paichadze, arguments that he wants to repeat now before his fans, who will pack the Granada stadium, in a clash that he will try to get back on track as soon as possible and where, barring a major surprise, he will have absolute dominance against a rival that will surely choose to defend itself with the greatest number of players possible.
In this sense, De la Fuente must bet if he makes changes to the eleven regarding the Tbilisi clash beyond those forced by the losses of Dani Olmo and Marco Asensio, starters against Georgia, but who could not finish the first half due to two problems physical and were replaced by the historic Lamine Yamal and Nico Williams.
In the concentration, Yéremi Pino and Ferran Torres have been their replacements, although, in theory, both seem to be behind the extremes of FC Barcelona and Athletic Club in order to form the offensive trident since both also scored, so the Blaugrana could extend his joy for the debut and the goal with his first start in the ‘Roja’.
CYPRUS, ALWAYS WON AND UNMARKED IN SPAIN
Álvaro Morata’s hat trick and captain’s stripes also seem to keep him in an eleven where not many variations are expected because the Rodri Hernández-Fabián Ruiz-Gavi trio gave a good level, although Mikel Merino could give some air by coming in for the Paris player Saint-Germain. At the back, the news could be on the sides, with César Azpilicueta and Alejandro Balde coming in for Dani Carvajal and José Luis Gayà so that the Le Normand-Laporte pairing continues to establish itself in the center.
Spain appears much superior to a Cyprus that has added defeats in its first four games of this Group A, with only two goals in favor and eleven against, and only had a chance to scratch something positive at home against Georgia, where it lost 1- 2 with a goal in the final stages.
The Cypriot team, in addition, is a rival that usually lowers its performance away from home, even more so if it visits Spanish soil where not only has it never won or scored, being the victim of resounding defeats such as the 8-0 with which the ‘Roja ‘ took revenge a year after the insult received in September 1998, in what was his last visit
DATASHEET.
–POSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
SPAIN: Unai Simón; Azpilicueta, Le Normand, Laporte, Balde; Rodri, Fabián Ruiz; Yamal, Gavi, Williams; and Morata.
CYPRUS: Mall; Karo, Laifis, Roberge; Andreou, Kyriakou, Ioannou, Charalampous, Anderson Correia; Kastanos y Sotiriu.
–REFEREE: Simone Sozza (ITA).
–STADIUM: New Los Cármenes de Granada.
–TIME: 20.45/La 1.