Euro 2016 – What We Learned – Spain 3 Turkey 0

Euro 2016 – What We Learned – Spain 3 Turkey 0

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Spain progressed to the knockout stages and proved their class with a commanding 3-0 victory over Turkey in Group D.

Spain dominated possession as expected, but early scoring chances were scarce for both sides. Gerard Pique’s header and Nolito’s curling strike came closest to breaking the deadlock, as Turkey sat back and looked to release the pace of Hakan Calhanoglu and Arda Turan on the break.

A frantic three-minute spell before the break effectively ended Turkey’s hopes. Firstly, the lively Nolito cut in from the left and swung in a beautiful cross which was met by Alvaro Morata, who slipped away from Mehmet Topal to nod past Volkan Babacan in goals.

No sooner had the Turkish regrouped, they found their handicap doubled. Cesc Fabregas chipped a ball over the top, Topal mistimed his header and Nolito pounced to make it 2-0.

Any chance of a Turkish comeback was snuffed out minutes after the restart, as Andres Iniesta slipped a perfect ball for Jordi Alba to run onto and the full back squared for Morata to grab his second of the game.

Here are some of the major talking points to come out of the match:

The Spanish armada still have it 

Since their disastrous outing at the last World Cup, the aura of invincibility which has cloaked Spain for the last eight years seems to have disappeared. While still considered one of the stronger teams at the tournament, there’s still a sense for many they are in something of a decline following their abject performance in Brazil.

They claimed a 14th consecutive game unbeaten at the Euros against Turkey and with this in mind it would be foolish to write off Spain’s chances of a third consecutive title.

Iniesta and David Silva mesmerised the Turkish defence and had the ball on a string at times, while Fabregas put his difficult season with Chelsea behind him to run the show in the middle of the park.

They looked comfortable at the back and stamped out some promising counter-attacks before they even began, while the movement of Nolito and Morata up front caused problems all day long. They won’t be considered favourites until they beat a fellow contender, but their performance showed they are more than capable of going all the way.

Turkey’s defensive steel melts under pressure

Having built their qualifying campaign on miserly defence, it is fair to say Turkey will be disappointed with their efforts in France.

In their opening game against Croatia, they defended admirably under pressure from the likes of Mario Mandzukic, Ivan Rakitic and Ivan Perisic and only conceded to Luka Modric’s stunner. However, it was a different story against Spain.

Topal, so strong in the air against Croatia, twice cost his team with mistimed headed attempts. He allowed Morata to slip away from him and nod home for the opening goal and minutes later his off-balance defensive allowed Nolito to pounce. He was not the sole reason they lost but Fatih Terim will be disappointed the defensive nous which got them to the finals has been sorely lacking here.

Nolito has arrived.

Prior to this year, Celta Vigo winger Nolito had played just three times for Spain. However, after a superb season in La Liga the 29 year-old worked his way into Vicente del Bosque’s plans and has not looked back since.

Repaying the faith shown in the veteran by del Bosque, the energetic Nolito proved to be Spain’s best outlet in the final third. He delivered an inch-perfect cross for Morata to break Turkey’s dogged resistance, before capitalising on Topal’s mistimed header minutes later to double their lead.

With his recent record now standing at five goals in his last five appearances for the national team, Nolito is arguably Spain’s most in-form player right now.  If he continues to produce the goods in France then it will go a long way to helping Spain secure a remarkable third successive European Championship.

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