4′ Sweden are leading in the other Group E game, meaning neither of these sides could top the group. It does do Spain a favour, however, as if Poland were to win then Enrique’s team would have to win to qualify too.
3′ Alba needlessly barges through the back of Haraslin but gets away with it as referee Kuipers waves play on. Slovakia then break down the left flank but their attack comes to an end as Busquets intervenes.
2′ Sarabia curls over the top for Morata but the forward is caught offside and any pressure on Skriniar in the left-hand channel fades away.
1′ With the national anthems out the way, referee Bjorn Kuipers gets the game underway!
Slovakia have won only one of their six meetings with Spain (D1 L4), a home victory in a European Championship qualifier back in October 2014 (2-1). This is their first encounter at a major tournament.
Enrique opts for four alterations to his last starting line-up. Garcia replaces Torres to partner Laporte at centre-back, while Azpilicueta, who hasn’t played for Spain since November 2018, returns at right-back for Llorente. After missing the first two games due to a positive Covid-19 test, Busquets comes in for Rodri, who was cautioned against Poland, and the Barcelona midfielder pairs up with fellow club colleague Pedri in the middle. The final change sees Olmo drop to the bench as Sarabia comes in on the right-hand side.
Tarkovic makes two changes from the loss against Sweden. Hromada joins Kucka in midfield, replacing Hrosovsky and further forward Haraslin is preferred ahead of Koscelnik. Pekarik, who starts at right-back, will play his 104th game for Slovakia, joining Martin Skrtel at joint-third on the all-time list of appearances for Slovakia. Hamsik, who is ahead of Pekarik in that list with 129 caps, slots in behind Duda.
SUBS: Fabian Ruiz, Mikel Oyarzabal, Pau Torres, Dani Olmo, Thiago, Marcos Llorente, Robert Sanchez, Ferran Torres, Adama Traore, David de Gea, Jose Gaya, Rodrigo.
SPAIN (4-3-3): Unai Simon; Jordi Alba, Aymeric Laporte, Eric Garcia, Cesar Azpilicueta; Koke, Sergio Busquets, Pedri; Gerard Moreno, Alvaro Morata, Pablo Sarabia.
SUBS: Michal Duris, Marek Rodak, Jan Gregus, Stanislav Lobotka, Patrik Hrosovsky, Martin Koscelnik, Laszlo Benes, Vladimir Weiss, Martin Valjent, Tomas Suslov, David Hancko, Dusan Kuciak.
SLOVAKIA (4-2-3-1): Martin Dubravka; Peter Pekarik, Lubomir Satka, Milan Skriniar, Tomas Hubocan; Jakub Hromada, Juraj Kucka; Robert Mak, Marek Hamsik, Lukas Haraslin; Ondrej Duda.
With two draws in two matches, Spain’s Euro 2020 campaign has got off to an incredibly shaky start. Their most recent draw agains Poland did, however, extend their unbeaten run to 10 games in all competitions. They sit third in Group E and Luis Enrique’s men are in desperate need of a good performance against Slovakia to send them through to the last-16 stages. Although, the Spaniards could follow a similar path to Portugal, who drew all three group-stage games at Euro 2016 before claiming the trophy.
Slovakia’s 2-1 defeat of Poland extended their unbeaten run in all competitions to six games before Emil Forsberg’s decisive penalty handed them a 1-0 loss on matchday 2. Group E remains wide open and Stefan Tarkovic’s men, who currently sit in second and a point above Spain, only need a draw to seal progression to the last-16 stages.
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Euro 2020 Group E fixture between Slovakia and Spain.
5′ SAVE! Morata wanders down the left-hand side, making it to the left of goal and powering a left-footed strike across the face of goal. Dubravka, however, is there to parry away and the loose ball gets cleared by Hubocan.