The lack of a striker proved no hindrance to this supremely talented side who scored four goals against Italy that will live long in the memory
Playing without a defined striker remains a relatively novel concept but Vicente del Bosque was actually returning to Plan A. After unsuccessful attempts to incorporate a proper No9 into his side Del Bosque reverted to his initial system of six midfielders and Spain became the first side to win the European Championship by using the same XI in their opening game and the final.
Previous doubts were understandable as Spain struggled to find top gear but this performance was a complete justification of the manager's belief that Spain function better without a fixed target. Italy were the perfect opponents for this strategy, with their midfield diamond attempting to dominate the centre. The wingers were reversed in the opening few minutes – Andrés Iniesta on the right, David Silva out on the left – but that was not relevant, as both came inside and overloaded Italy in the middle.
Cesc Fábregas played as a false nine – or did he? He is renowned as a midfielder rather than a striker but his role was simply that of a tricky centre-forward, making runs in behind the defence. Initially he appeared isolated but once Iniesta and Silva pushed higher up, the system worked perfectly and the latter's headed opener came after a superb combination between all three attackers.
The key to their performance was the tempo — the high-speed rondo wasn't simply consigned to the pre-match warm-up — and this change in pace outwitted the Italian backline, who were constantly forced to alter their position and their line of sight; inevitably there was always a runner on their blind side. Equally important was the positioning of Xavi Hernández. When these two sides met three weeks ago he was stationed too close to Sergio Busquets and Xabi Alonso but now he played in an advanced zone, shutting down Andrea Pirlo before making himself available for a positive forward pass. Spain's midfield had so much more depth and they passed around the Italians' rather than in front of it.
In the brief periods when Spain simply wanted possession rather than penetration, they capitalised on the freedom Alvaro Arbeloa and Jordi Alba enjoyed on the flanks, courtesy of Italy's narrow midfield. Arbeloa provided an easy out-ball and continued passing moves with minimal fuss but Alba was more ambitious and took advantage of the lack of a direct opponent, sprinting forward brilliantly for the second goal.
Cesare Prandelli attempted to change things at the break, with the introduction of Antonio Di Natale in place of Antonio Cassano. He typically tested Spain's offside trap and Italy's best chance of the second half came from such a scenario.
But Prandelli's next change was fatal. Having already replaced Giorgio Chiellini with Federico Balzaretti through injury, his third switch was the introduction of Thiago Motta, who lasted no time before getting injured. It was a slight risk for Prandelli to use his third substitution on 57 minutes but he needed to make changes to get back in the game. To add insult to injury, Motta's role was that of a forward-playing destroyer – not only had Italy lost a man, they had lost the man tasked with winning the ball. Spain's subsequent dominance of possession was assured, as was the victory.
Spain's lack of outright attacking has occasionally been frustrating throughout this tournament, and with a two-goal and one-man advantage, they could have been forgiven for killing the game with ball retention. But with Pedro Rodríguez on for Silva, Fernando Torres for Fábregas and Juan Mata for Iniesta, Del Bosque replaced his front three with even more attack-minded players. The scoreline could have been anything but perhaps more important was the nature of the goals. Their key strikes at World Cup 2010 were often scrappy, and Spain had previously struggled to encapsulate their unique footballing identity within a single moment. On this night they offered four fine examples that will live long in the memory. Read More
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