On Monday, Croatia and Spain butted heads in the Euro 2020 Round of 16, in what proved to be one of the most exciting games in the competition thus far. It was a game that started off with Spain going behind thanks to a bizarre own goal, as Pedri played a firm back pass to Unai Simon, which the keeper missed entirely. But Spain then took a firm grip on the match, and with just over five minutes left of regular time, they were winning 3-1 courtesy of goals from PSGs Pablo Sarabia, Chelseas Cesar Azpilicueta and Manchester Citys Ferran Torres. However, the game would be 3-3 by the final whistle thanks to a frantic last few minutes with goals from Mislav Orsic and Mario Pasalic. With the game in extra time, Spain were able to rally once again and see off the Croatians, this time with finishes from Alvara Morata and Mikel Oyarzabal, meaning Spain’s five goals came from five different goalscorers. This tactical analysis will focus less on the story of the game, and instead give an insight into some of the tactics used by both sides in this Euro 2020 knockout game.
Formations and line-ups
The first thing to examine in this analysis is the chosen line-ups and the set-ups these players were placed in by either coach.
Croatia opted to make no changes to the personnel in their line-up. However, there were slight alterations to their shape. Whilst previously they had played with slightly more defined 4-3-3, with Marcelo Brozovic still as a single pivot, they dropped Ante Rebic and Nikola Vlasic into slightly more reserved roles, where they would switch between that inside forward role, and a more conventional winger, albeit still staying narrow. Croatia wanted to ensure their midfield was packed with little room for Spain to play through, and they were happy to push their opponents out wide, giving plenty of space on the flanks.
Spain made a couple of alterations themselves. Jose Gaya came in at left-back for Jordi Alba, whilst Gerard Moreno was omitted in place of Ferran Torres. It was likely Spain Head Coach Luis Enrique anticipated having more space on the wings available and with Torres and Sarabia on either wing he had players who would be all too happy to use this space.
