Spain have opened their Euro 2024 campaign with an emphatic victory over Croatia at Olympiastadion Berlin.
Against projections, La Roja eased passed The Checked Ones with a convincing 3-0 victory to get off to a flying start.
It was a rematch of the 2023 Nations League final. The Zlatko Dalić-led side were expected to put up another impressive showing against their dominant opponents but they collapsed easily to La Roja’s unstoppable firepower.
Spain got off the mark, dominating proceedings and forcing the game on the opponents. It was a shaky and rickety start for the Croats. Coming under intense pressure from the Spaniard, they dropped deep for low blocks while hoping to pounce on counters.
A minute before the half-hour, Alvaro Morata got the Spaniard’s first goal – a deserved lead after a dominant start. After a brilliant play, Morata picked up Fabian Ruiz’s pass and easily beat Livakovic to score.
Just three minutes after Morata’s goal, Fabian Ruiz, who assisted the first goal, got himself on the scoresheet. A great team play in the build-up, led to the goal. Lamine Jamal had got the ball to Pedri who then found Fabian Ruiz. With the ball, the PSG star beat the challenge from Croatia players and fired into the bottom-right corner to make it 2-0.
The Croats were deservedly down by two goals after a disappointing start to the game. Despite going two goals up, Spain continued on the ascendancy and were looking set to nail home their third goal.
The first half was almost exhausted when La Roja capped a brilliant first-half display with their third goal. This time, it was Real Madrid wingback Carvajal who nailed it home to compound the woes of the Croats and put the game beyond the 2022 World Cup bronze medalists.
Lamine Jamal engineered the goal after he sent an incredible pass to the Real Madrid star, who poked it home easily to make it 3-0.
The Checked Ones were certainly heading to a defeat after conceding the three goals in a flash. Spain head into the break with the lead.
The second half took a sharply different trajectory as the Croats attempted to mount a response but could not upset the score.
Spain still made some deadly attacking moves but could not add to the score either. The game ended with Spain running out with a deserved 3-0 victory to clinch all three points.
La Roja will hope to continue on winning ways when they take on Italy on Thursday, June 20 while Croatia will hope to put the loss aside and secure a win in their next group clash against Albania on Wednesday, June 19.
