This was the first real heavyweight match of Euro 2024 and the outcome turned out to be far more one-sided than many had expected.
Spain started impressively against Croatia at the Olympiastadion in Berlin with a 3-0 victory thanks to goals from Alvaro Morata, Fabian Ruiz and Dani Carvajal, all of whom scored before half-time.
Real Madrid full-back Carvajal’s goal was assisted by Barcelona winger Lamine Yamal, who, at 16 years and 338 days, became the youngest player at the European Championships.
His performance was just one of several positives for Spain coach Luis de la Fuente, but there was disappointment for Croatia legend Luka Modric and his teammates when a second-half consolation goal was ruled out by the video assistant referee.
Here, The Athletic’s Dermot Corrigan, Tim Spiers and Tom Burrows break down the talking points.
How good was Yamal?
He proved why he is one of the hottest emerging superstars in football.
It’s been a fairytale 12 months, with the La Masia academy graduate becoming the youngest ever La Liga player, Champions League starter and La Liga goalscorer.
Today he proved why he deserves to be in Spain’s senior 11. He had an awkward moment early on when he appeared to get in behind the Croatian defence and then cut back awkwardly with his left foot, but from there he established himself as Spain’s most important attacker.
Going deeper
What makes Ramin Yamal such a special footballer?
His tenacity and quality, breaking down the Croatian defence and retaining the ball in danger areas, led directly to Fabian’s 2-0 goal, before his superb in-swinging cross set up an easy finish for Carvajal to extend Spain’s lead.
Yamal makes history and inspires again (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Yamar now has seven goals (two goals, five assists) in eight international appearances, including a goal on his international debut against Georgia last September. Early in the second half, Croatia goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic denied Yamar a goal, and Yamar then came close to recording a second assist, this time for Morata.
“I told Lamine the other day that when I was 17, I was celebrating winning the Copa del Rey with the Under-19s at Real Madrid,” Carvajal said of Yamal last week. “And now this kid is important for Barcelona and Spain. It’s incredible.”
When is Yamal’s 17th birthday? July 13th, the day before the Euro 2024 final.
Dermot Corrigan
How strong was Spain?
There were plenty of questions hanging over Spain’s Euro 2024 squad, from the back to the front, with de la Fuente heading into his first tournament in charge.
And the first quarter of the match didn’t seem to go too well for Croatia, even though they had more of the ball and seemed more confident.
But after Croatia’s attack collapsed, Spain hit back quickly, with Morata finishing with confidence, the oft-questioned Spain captain finding his form at just the right time, having scored just two goals in the past five months for his club Atletico Madrid.
Morata celebrates his goal on Saturday (Peter Roos/BSR Agency/Getty Images)
Goalkeeper Unai Simon was also questioned by some after individual errors had cost Spain in previous tournaments, but he looked safe and confident for much of the game, including saving a long-range shot from Mateo Kovacic with the team leading 1-0, and punching the ball away from Andrej Kramaric’s head near the goal in the second half.
De la Fuente’s controversial selection also paid off, with Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Fabian producing a fine goal and assist, while Chelsea left-back Marc Cucurella forced a goal-line clearance in the second half.
But after the break, Morata and Rodri both left the pitch seemingly injured, and Simão made a routine mistake, handing the ball to Lovro Meyer, which led to a Croatian penalty.
It wasn’t a perfect day for Spain, but it was still a good start.
Dermot Corrigan
Croatia’s veterans in trouble
There was something highly symbolic about the roles of Luka Modric and Marcelo Brozovic in Spain’s second goal at the Olympiastadion.
With Croatia defending well on the edge of their own penalty area, Spain looked to have little advantage, but Fabian outmaneuvered Modric, who turned stunned towards Munich, before the Spaniard lazily edged past a helpless Brozovic, who wasn’t about to risk a penalty with a sliding tackle, allowing Fabian to neatly slot home in the corner.
It was a great goal but the defense was terrible.
The Croatian midfield trio with Mateo Kovacic have been stable and reliable for the national team for many years, capable of taking command and producing moments of genius in any football match, all over the age of 30 and approaching 400 combined caps (375 as of today).
Modric recently renewed his contract with Real Madrid (Quality Sports Images/Getty Images)
They weren’t outdone by Spain’s young and dynamic midfield – quite the opposite – but Brozovic’s influence as a pivot was limited by Spain’s impressive pressing and Modric and Kovacic too often felt they were not on the same wavelength as their teammates.
Croatia’s attack and defence should be given more blame for the defeat, as they missed several easy chances inside the box and defended poorly against Spain’s other two goals.
One might suspect that Zlatko Dalic had his eye on Wednesday’s game against Albania when Modric and Kovacic were substituted in the 65th minute, but even there there was symbolism.
Tim Spiers
What happened to the disallowed goal?
After a frustrating night, Croatia finally thought they had pulled a goal back 10 minutes before the end to put some excitement into the final seconds of the game.
Substitute Bruno Petkovic was awarded a penalty for a foul on Rodri and then missed it, before scoring on the rebound from a neat cut-back by fellow substitute Ivan Perisic.
However, after a VAR check it was determined that Perisic had entered the box too early, there was no replay and the goal was disallowed.
According to the International Football Association Board (IFAB), world football’s law-making body, attacking encroachment can only be retaken if a goal is scored directly from a penalty kick.
Perisic protests to referee Michael Oliver (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Rodri’s foul was also reviewed by VAR, but there was some question as to whether he should have been sent off – Michael Oliver instead showed him a yellow card, presumably because the referee felt he had tried to play the ball – a player cannot be sent off or a penalty awarded for attempting a fair challenge.
All of this sums up a disappointing night for Croatia in front of goal.
One of Croatia’s biggest concerns coming into the tournament is a lack of attacking power up front, with coach Zlatko Dalic unable to rely on quality strikers like Davor Suker or Mario Mandzukic, and that was evident in tonight’s opening game.
Osasuna striker Ante Budimir led the attack against Spain but made a shocking mistake just before half-time to pull one back for Croatia after a clever cross from Manchester City’s Josko Gvardiol.
2-0 down, Croatia had great chances to get back into the match but Unai Simon deflected Marcelo Brozovic’s shot and Lovro Meyer smashed it into the side netting.
Ten minutes into the second half, Croatia failed to score again when Josip Stanisic took a shot from a great pass from Kovacic, but it was blocked by Mark Cucurella. Budimir had another chance in the scramble but failed to score, being passed quickly by Dalic.
Croatia face Albania in Hamburg on Wednesday in a match that will provide plenty of food for thought for Dalic, with more chances expected.
Tom Burrows
What did Spain coach Luis de la Fuente have to say?
“We are very happy but very cautious. We know what football is like,” he told RTVE. “It’s a good start, we have good feelings, our football, our competitiveness is high. But this is just the beginning and there is still a long way to go.”
“It was a very perfect game, both defensively and offensively. We played really well with the high press against one of the most technically skilled teams in the world. I’m happy with our attitude, how we read the game, did what we needed to do and of course the result.”
“But we can still do better. We have to be demanding, enjoy this result and prepare for the next game.”
What did Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic say?
“We withstood Spain’s pressure for the first 10-15 minutes, then we took control, dominated and started creating chances.”
But then we made a mistake and conceded a goal, and we couldn’t get back into the game after that. It wasn’t good.”
What’s next for Spain?
Thursday, June 20: Italy (Gelsenkirchen), 8pm BST, 3pm ET
What’s next for Croatia?
Wednesday 19th June: Albania (Hamburg), 2pm BST, 9am ET
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(Top photo: Sebastian Christoph Gollnow/Picture Alliance via Getty Images)
