In the semi-final, Spain were supposed to face their toughest test yet, going up against the star-studded France. In fact, ahead of the game, most critics predicted that Spain didn’t even stand a chance against the Blues. And as is the case very often, the critics were forced to eat their words, as Spain cruised through the game, arguably putting in their best performance of the tournament so far. While France’s global attacking stars continued to probe opportunities, Spain were busy suffocating them in the middle of the park. Head coach Luis De La Fuente crowded the midfield, overpowering France’s double pivot of Aurelien Tchouameni and Adrien Rabiot. They had no space to work around, no time on the ball and no angles to find runners in behind.
