UEFA U21 European Championship 6th June: Spain Can Outclass Russia

As the elite of Europe’s youngsters get set to do battle in the Under 21 European Championships in Israel. Its time for us to take a look for some value in the opening round of matches.

Thursday 6th June kick off 5.00pm

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Spain vs Russia

Current holders Spain look set to take the tournament by storm again this year. However manager Julen Lopetegui may face a tough task holding on to their crown with the Dutch and the Germans also bringing experienced young squads.

Just like the senior squad the under 21’s are littered with amazing talent, most of which would walk into some of the top teams around Europe.

In their ranks they boast Manchester United’s title winning goalkeeper David de Gea, Barcelona’s Thiago and winger Christian Tello, Malaga’s Isco who has scored 6 goals from midfield in 11 caps. Also Benfica striker Rodrigo who has an incredible strike rate of 14 goals in just 12 appearances.

Spain have been handed a tough draw with Russia, Holland and Germany in their group. And with the Dutch taking on Germany in their opening fixture Spain will undoubtedly want to steal a march on their group rivals with a convincing win in arguably their easiest of the 3 fixtures.

You won’t find a team with a bad record in this tournament as these are the best 8 sides in Europe. Russia have done well to qualify and do have some talented players in their squad. Anzi Makhachkala striker Fyodon Smolov has scored 14 goals in 27 apperances, and fellow striker Denis Cheryshev can boast of 6 in 14 caps.

The sides have only met twice in their history. Spain have won on both occasions, the last of which was back in 2008 with a 2-0 win.

I’m just going to give a mention to how tight the Spanish are at the back. In their last 9 matches they have only conceded 1 goal.