Spain and Sweden share the spoils in a one-sided draw, after one of the most one-sided matches you'll see in a while. Not because one team (Sweden) was bad and the other (Spain) was good, but because they chose radically different approaches, both worked their way up. And they took different routes and reached the same place; For Sweden though, it felt like a win, and for Spain, it felt like two points fell.
That's what La Rosa manager Luis Enrique does. always is. In AS Roma. In Celta Vigo. in Barcelona. It is not arrogance; It is studying alternatives, applying logic and doing what feels right to you. Knowing that, whatever the outcome, you will walk out with your head held high and your conscience clear.
You saw it when they called 24 players for Euros, none of them from Real Madrid. He didn't need more dead bodies, he didn't need more Real Madrid guys, whether they were aging veterans (Sergio Ramos), defensive Swiss army knives (Nacho) or former prodigies (Isco, Marco Asensio).
It's not about what you've done; It's about what Luis Enrique thinks you'll do. Therefore, the starting XI he sent against Sweden had a total of 229 caps compared to the opposition's 593. Eight of Spain's XIs had 20 or fewer caps, compared to just one Sweden.
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The experience in the lineup was reflected in what Luis Enrique and his opposite number, Jan Andersen, asked his players to do. The latter set deep and narrow and looked for a break. Luis Enrique carved some 2021 version of tiki taka, under the ball's endless suffocation right and, on every turnover, a concerted effort to regain it.
The result was the first half that saw Spain catch the ball and set a passing record (the most in the first half of any Euro match since counting began in 1980) while approaching 80% possession. And also, he created three clear chances: a Dani Olmo header (saved by Robin Olsen); a snatched shot by koke (which should have hit the target); And after a Marcus Danielson mistake, a terrifying Alvaro Morata finish came across as wide.
Luis Enrique should have been delighted to see it all from his Marcelo Bilsa-like perch on the water cooler on the side of the pitch. It was not just created opportunities. The fact that the Swede struggled to get out of their half, with their wide men, Emil Forsberg and Sebastian Larsson pinned all the way back and their strikers, Alexander Isaacs and Markus Berg, were far enough away, they could have their own autonomy. Could have made the area (Isaacsberg it's good to hear).
But football is a strange, low-scoring sport. And so it so happens that the best of the first 45 minutes actually fell on one of the very few opportunities for Sweden when it came to Unai Simon's sights. Isaac, the talented beanpole who, if you try really hard, might remind you of a certain Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who found himself beating Aymeric Laporte and hitting the ball towards goal. It struck Marcos Llorente, then the post, and made a nest in Simon's arms. The danger averted.
If you think this inspired the half-time change from Luis Enrique, you don't know your Luis Enrique. He pushed the sidelines Jedi-like in his white button-down and white sneaker combo, arms folded, chin scratched. Yoda preached patience. so does she.
This type of possession football simply means not picking and prodding until you find a flaw in the opposition's armor. It is also meant to weaken them mentally and physically. When you defend a depth like a Swede, you can't switch off and you rarely get relief.
So he kept turning the screw till he got scared. A Swedish counter at the hour mark saw Forsberg set up Isaac, who circled through three opponents and threw a low ball into goal for Berg, who whipped it all over with all the graceful footwork of the lamppost. .
More chin-scratching. more changes. More doubling up with more passing. Thiago Alcantara, perhaps Spain's best passerby, and Pablo came to Sarabia. Rodri went (there's no need for a holding midfielder when there's nothing to spare) and Morata, whose feast-or-famine meter was certainly leaning towards the latter.
Anderson countered with some chess of his own, turning both of his big strikers for two speed traders in Robin Quaison and Viktor Claeson. It also seemed twofold: you want to put us to death even more? OK. We'll be clearing it for our Roadrunner for a long time.
Another roll of the dice for Luis Enrique. It's a matter of patience? Gone. Their wingers came in Olmo and Ferran Torres, another striker in the tricky Mikel Oyarzabal and Gerard Moreno. And to be fair, opportunities did come, too, many off the cross, as Olsen edged out to Moreno. The Villarreal hero managed to make three shots in less than 20 minutes - and a very convincing penalty appeal when he was beaten by Danielson - but to no avail.
Swedish barricades held. It wasn't pretty - they somehow managed just 315 touches, the lowest in the tournament's recorded history - but nothing came out of Spain's bowling and they still created two crystal-clear chances. In the cold, tough world of group-stage major tournament football, a draw against the top seed in the opening game means you have a leg up in the knockout rounds. Now it needs a win over Poland or Slovakia to be sure.
Anderson made no bones about it: "I'm not embarrassed at this point at all. If we want to take points from these types of teams, we have to play like this."
And Luis Enrique?
He will be second guessed to high heaven. That's what happens when you choose to be unorthodox - at least by the principles of the modern game - and not win. But maybe that's a little unfair. Not just because they could have scored three runs in the first half alone, but because the structure did what it was supposed to do: minimize risk and maximize opportunity. The Swede's prospects were great, but they were also impressed by the individual prowess of Isaac, one of the best young centre-forward in the game.
If there is a mistake, perhaps, it is in the personnel. If the opposition is going to park the bus, perhaps, instead of a bouncer like Rodri, you need a guy who can warm it up and get it out of the way, like Thiago. Olmo and Torres are good players, but perhaps the style in which they play at club level is a little off from what Luis Enrique wants to do, especially when there is no room to run. And then there's Morta. When it's off, it's off. Moreno is not only coming off a 30-goal season, he is also selfless and a workaholic. And he's riding a hot streak right now.
But there is a lot on which to build. Llorente and Jordi Alba were massively excellent. Pedri showed zero stage fret. Coke moves the ball well. Just a little fine tuning is needed.
Not that it matters what I think or what you think or what the ranks of the Spanish media at large. Luis Enrique is going to do his own thing.