Tik-Italy against Spain without ball possession: the world changed at the European Championships

The Spanish press praises "the new Spain without the cult of football". The challenge is Thursday

ROME – Once upon a time there was the Spain of tiki-taka, and Italy locked in its epic lock. The cliché has been turned around like a well-cooked omelette: the debut at the European Championships was enough to redefine the identity of the two national teams who are already playing for qualification for the next phase on Thursday evening. With roles evidently reversed.

If the New York Times writes about the return of Tik-Italia, El Paìs praises the “new Spain without the cult of football”. Now it’s the Azzurri who weave webs of passes and passes. it goes long, it waits, it runs, it stings. Not since the 2008 European Championship final against Germany (1-0) have Spain finished a match with less possession than their opponent: 46%. Since then, 136 have passed matches. Then came Croatia, who finished losing 3-0 with 54% of ball possession. In short, the world has changed.

He had already warned Rodri of the paradigm shift before his debut against Croatia. “Style? It’s what makes you win, no more, no less. I don’t understand the styles. Each rival is different and plays differently. It’s a mistake to think that one style will lead you to victory. You have to adapt to different moments and rivals.”

Luis Enrique’s Spain, eliminated in the World Cup by Morocco after holding the ball for 77% of the time with 1,019 passes is now in the distant past.

At his first appearance, De la Fuente anticipated what would be seen a year and a half later at the Olympic Stadium in Berlin, writes El Paìs: “I have my script and I will apply my nuances. I like to dominate the game, run into spaces… we have to interpret the update that football is experiencing.”

“If we have players with the speed of Lamine, Nico, Ferran or Ayoze it makes no sense to give up those options. The players know that in that type of game we are also very dangerous,” De la Fuente exulted after the victory. According to his staff, the plan had gone perfectly: Spain dominated, counterattacked, had fun and even suffered. “The opponents now know that we can hurt them with ball possession, with more elaborate and positional attacks, or even, if they give us options, we run very fast.”