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Spain had to settle with a point in Seville as the determined Swedish defence frustrated La Roja’s attacking flair.
Luis Enrique’s side often lacked the inspiration on the night, with very few players looking to take an offensive risk. In all, passive football was the order of the night.
With 85% of possession, you’d be forgiven if you thought this performance was like the Spain of old.
Reaching the benchmark of Spain’s international dominance is unlikely to happen, and this seems to cast a shadow over the new generation of La Roja.
The expectation is exhilarating tiki-taka football, mastered so eloquently by Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and David Silva, to name a few. However, the great Spain side of the past could rely on the natural predatory instinct of David Villa or Fernando Torres.
It seemed clear in a startlingly warm night in Seville that reliance on Álvaro Morata and Gerard Moreno will limit Spain’s progression at Euro 2020.
For the striker, who on loan at Juventus last season, it was a night that won’t live long in the memory.
Morata took three shots without success, and a golden opportunity in the 38th minute when Jordi Alba’s through ball evaded Marcus Danielson to send Morata through on goal was met by a woeful effort by Spain’s frontman.
Koke was another La Roja player who seemed to have lost all sense of composure in front of goal. Two chances came and went as he firstly lashed a shot wide after a rebound fell his way in the 22nd minute.
Another opportunity arose when Dani Olmo sent an excellent low cross into Sweden’s danger area, only for the onrushing Koke to fire over the bar.
Gerard Moreno joined the action late in the hope that the Villareal striker, who scored 30 goals last season, could find a way past Robin Olsen.
Unfortunately for Spain, Moreno continued the pattern his teammates had set by failing to score, with three efforts on goal. Moreno did force Olsen into a save when he latched on to Pablo Sarabia’s cross, but the Everton stopper deflected the header away with his feet.
One positive for Spain to take away was the attacking effectiveness of their left-hand side.
Jordi Alba is now an elder statesman of the Spanish team. The left-back, who has achieved an enormous amount of honours throughout his career, captained Spain due to the COVID-19 enforced absence of Sergio Busquets.
Alba was originally released by Barcelona’s infamous La Masia academy for being too small, but after impressing with Valencia, Barca re-signed Alba for a fee of £12.6 million in 2012.
The epitome of a modern-day left-back, Alba has won everything to win in Spanish domestic football. Alba was also part of Spain’s 2012 European Championship winning squad and named in the team of the tournament.
Alba showed early intent against Sweden as he drove down the left in the sixth minute and forced a corner with a devilish cross. He made 109 passes on the night, with a 90% passes success ratio.
Spain’s flying left-back may have only created two clear chances, but his combination and understanding with Dani Olmo was Spain greatest attacking threat.
Olmo is another to find success after leaving La Masia. The tricky forward made the surprise move to join Dinamo Zagreb in 2014 at the age of 16, but the gamble paid off as he earned a move to RB Leipzig in 2020.
Impressive form for Leipzig, including seven goals and 12 assists, saw Olmo force his way into the Spanish starting lineup and has already scored twice for La Roja.
Olmo became a bright spark that attempted to light a flame for Spain against Sweden and came the closest to breaking the deadlock on two opportunities.
He impressively rose in the 16th minute to meet a perfect cross from Koke only to see an inspired Robin Olsen divert the ball away from goal.
Then driving with speed and intent at the Swedish defence, he unleashed a rasping shot from distance, which Olsen saved unconvincingly.
Sweden did have their opportunities, despite the Spanish dominance, and it was the hard-working Alexsander Isak who created both opportunities.
Isak gave Spain their first scare when he raced on to a Marcus Berg flick. At first, the Real Sociedad striker miss-hit his shot, but his second attempt had to be cleared into the post by a retreating Marcos Llorente.
It was Isak’s turn to feed Marcus Berg in the second half, as his quick footwork allowed him to deliver the ball to Berg at the back post. Berg got the finish disastrously wrong by slicing underneath the ball, which created timid chipped effort.
Sweden were impressively robust in defence, and the performance by 36-year-old Sebastian Larsson shows age has no boundaries. The former Sunderland Midfielder covered the majority of the pitch during a remarkable display.
Spain needs to adjust their play into a more free-flowing and fast-paced attack to suit Olmo and Ferran Torres if they are to challenge in this tournament.
Sweden will be happy with a solid result against their toughest test in Group E and look to get a win on board against Slovakia on Friday.
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