The National Football Stadium in Bratislava was the venue for the opening match of the U21 Euros, with a sell-out crowd in full voice as Slovakia and beaten finalists in 2023, Spain, took to the pitch.
All of the early running was made by the Spanish, with Pablo Torre and Javi Guerra in particular seeing a lot of the ball. Gerard Martin looked to have dislocated his finger after only a few minutes, but he was quickly back in position to help stop Nino Marcelli from profiting after Slovakia’s first foray into Spanish territory.
Torre’s growing influence saw passing lanes opened up with ease, and 71% possession for Spain in the opening exchanges hinted at the task Slovakia had before them.
Lubomir Belko was quickly called into action, saving low down as Diego López threatened, before a speculative effort from Guerra came back off the post and, as the ball was recycled, Marc Pubill didn’t need asking twice to open the scoring on 15’.
Just two minutes and five seconds later, a carbon copy finish from Mateo Joseph put daylight between the teams.
After 25 minutes, no Slovakian player had touched the ball in the Spain box, though Marcelli’s long-range effort did at least force Alejandro Irturbe into a first save. It took until the half-hour mark for Samuel Kopasek to have Slovakia’s first shot on target, and as half-time approached, Tomas Suslov helped engineer some neat passages of play to give the hosts some confidence.
Within three minutes of the second half starting, Marcelli turned the Spanish defence inside out before teeing up Kopacek to blast a shot into the top corner.
It woke up a partisan crowd, and their support helped push the hosts forward. Another attack in the 51st minute saw Spanish half-time substitute Hugo Bueno harshly adjudged to have pulled down Marcelli, and from the resulting penalty, Suslov, incredibly, drew his team level.
It was the first time ever that Spain had surrendered a two-goal lead in a U21 tournament group game, and the narrative continued to be completely flipped on its head as incessant pressure from the hosts saw Spain on the back foot for long periods.
Torre, who had been Spain’s main creator, had to go off before the hour, but that didn’t stop them from taking aim when the chance presented itself. Guerra, for example, ensured Belko had to go full length to keep out a brilliant shot with 23 minutes left to play.
A much more open game in the last 15’ saw chances at either end, with Pubill and Marcelli proving too hot to handle for either defence, whilst Albert Moleiro and Guerra should’ve done better from close range. With 30 seconds of regulation time remaining, a mix-up in the Slovakian defence allowed Cesar Tarraga to head home.
La Rojita’s attempt to reach a sixth final from the last eight U21 Euro tournaments began in fine style but looked to have fizzled out in five second-half minutes.
The late winner means that they are unbeaten in the last nine group games in the competition, whilst Slovakia desperately need to lean into home advantage during this competition and look to improve just 35.2% possession.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nino Marcelli (Slovakia)