Sweden was a wall for Spain in the premiere of the Euro

Spain ended up desperate in its debut at the Eurocup. A rival, a priori, affordable that became the physical wall that it promised to be. Jan Olof Andersson's selection was limited to defending their own area and trusting the quality of their forwards on the other side. Although Spain dominated with 85.1% of possession which accounted for 17 shots on goal, Sweden managed to keep a clean sheet and also have the clearest opportunity in Berg's boots.

That zero tie was no accident. This selection showed in the Eurocup how it defends and with its people it squeezes it to the fullest: has left its goal unbeaten in three of the four games played at home in 2021.

The origin of this defensive perfection certainly has many names working in common, but can be personified in two names: Olsen and Lindelof. The first one had saves of great merit against Spain, like two headers from Dani Olmo and Gerard Moreno that looked like a goal. With no place in Mourinho's Roma, the goalkeeper had to leave on loan to Sheffield United on the last day of the market to be Ramsdale's replacement (to Arsenal for € 27M). He stopped five of seventeen Spanish shots.

For his part, the second leads and orders the defense of four or five of Andersson. This year he will be Varane's rival for a position next to Maguire and he is not afraid of competition from the ex-Madridista: “I think it's great, the competition improves us”. He and his teammates blocked four of the aforementioned seventeen shots.