Spain U21 5-1 Ukraine U21: Talking points as La Rojita book place at Euro final

Spain have earned a place in the final of this year’s UEFA Euro Under-21 tournament at the expense of Ukraine, beating the young representatives of the war-troubled country by 5-1 at the Steaua Stadium in Bucharest. Ukraine took the lead after 13 minutes through Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Artem Bondarenko, sparking a fierce reaction from Spain.

It took Braga striker Abel Ruiz just four minutes to capitalize on a mistake by Volodymyr Brazhko and equalize, and another seven for Athletic Bilbao midfielder Oihan Sancet to get his team in front with a lovely shot from outside the box. In the second half, Real Madrid’s Antonio Blanco (54′), Osasuna’s Aimar Oroz (68′) and Manchester City’s Sergio Gomez (78′) made sure Spain’s triumph was comfortable in the end.

Obvious difference in quality

First and foremost, it should be said that Ukraine probably didn’t deserve such a thrashing in this game. For two thirds of its course, they held their own and even had (albeit brief) periods when they dominated and pushed Spain hard. They fought valiantly and stayed tactically disciplined, arguably until Aimar’s brilliant strike put the contest decisively beyond their reach.

Coach Ruslan Rotan will be proud with the fact that his boys reached the semifinals of this tournament, especially with the way they shocked France in the quarterfinals. But in the end, his team looked tired and frustrated by the superior quality and trademark mind games of Spain.

But once Spain took the lead and forced the technically inferior Ukraine abandon their largely defensive setup and open up, there was no stopping them. Their game was reminiscent of the way the great team of Spain played in the 2008 and 2012 Euros, as well as the 2010 World Cup in between, used to play. They dominated possession with 57%, mostly keeping the ball with relative ease through accurate passing and clever changes of positions in the middle of the park and around the opposition box. Their victory was thoroughly deserved.

Abel Ruiz

Ruiz was officially declared the Man of the Match, and rightly so. The 23-year-old attacker played brilliantly upfront, displaying fine balance between hold-up play, organizational skill and attacking threat. With the likes of Real Madrid, and likely Barcelona in the near future, on the lookout for a young, high-quality centre-forward, Braga may find themselves hard pressed to keep hold of his services quite soon.

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The reason for the captain’s armband being on his arm was rather obvious; his maturity was way beyond his age, his quality of such level that no team among the top ones in the world would’ve been ashamed of having it at their disposal.

Into the final

Spain’s opponents in the final at the Adjarabet Arena in Batumi, Georgia, on Saturday will be England. Lee Carlsley’s team beat Israel in the other semifinal, courtesy of goals from Nottingham Forest’s Morgan Gibbs-White, Manchester City’s Cole Palmer and Aston Villa’s Cameron Archer.

After beating Ukraine the way they did, Spain will surely find facing the team containing the likes of Newcastle’s Anthony Gordon, Arsenal’s Emile Smith-Rowe, Tottenham Hotspur’s Oliver Skipp, Chelsea’s in-demand defender Levi Colwill, not to mention the pair of Liverpool starlets Curtis Jones and Harvey Elliott, a different prospect. But on the back of this game, Santi Denia will have plenty of confidence about his team’s ability to win.

With senior football across Europe on the summer break at the moment, the lovers of the game are set to enjoy a thrilling encounter between two high-quality young teams, with the title of European Under-21 champions as the prize awaiting the winners.