The report of Spanish groups in main finals since 2002 is sort of outstanding. Forward of Spain vs England in Sunday’s Euro 2024 remaining, we check out all 26 finals gained by Spanish groups in that point.
Sunday sees Spain face England within the remaining of Euro 2024.
La Roja have been probably the most spectacular aspect on the event, and are favourites with the Opta supercomputer to win in Berlin, however something can occur in a remaining.
In a one-off sport between two sides ok to succeed in a remaining, doesn’t it principally change into 50-50?
Effectively, in a remaining that entails Spanish groups, it appears not.
In terms of the Spain males’s nationwide group and La Liga sides, they’re close to sufficient invincible in main finals.
Making an allowance for World Cups, European Championships, Champions League and the UEFA Cup/Europa League, of the final 26 males’s finals involving Spanish groups, all 26 have had Spanish winners.
That’s to not say all Spanish sides have gained; 4 have been defeated in that point, however in all circumstances they’ve been crushed by fellow La Liga sides.
You need to go all the way in which again to 2001 to final see a non-Spanish group beat a Spanish one in a serious remaining, and it occurred twice.
Liverpool beat Alaves 5-4 within the UEFA Cup remaining with an personal aim that additionally occurred to be a golden aim in extra-time. If that wasn’t agonising sufficient, Valencia then misplaced the Champions League remaining to Bayern Munich on penalties per week later.
It appears the entire of Spain sat again of their seat like NBA and Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan and mentioned: “And I took that personally.”
It’s fairly the report and may very well be prolonged when Spain face England on Sunday.
Right here, we take a fast have a look at every of these 26 finals, which included 9 in opposition to English groups. Apologies if this makes England followers sweat simply that little bit extra on Sunday.
1. Actual Madrid 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen – 2002 Champions League Ultimate
The match that began all of it; Actual Madrid took on the shock bundle of the 2001-02 Champions League marketing campaign, Bayer Leverkusen, within the remaining at Hampden Park in Glasgow.
Raúl gave Los Blancos an early lead however Klaus Toppmöller’s aspect confirmed the spirit that had change into a characteristic of their season as Lúcio quickly equalised.
It took a second of genius to resolve the sport, with Zinedine Zidane placing Madrid forward by firing in an iconic volley from exterior the field simply earlier than half-time, and it could show to be the profitable aim in Scotland.
2. Valencia 2-0 Marseille – 2004 UEFA Cup Ultimate
Rafael Benítez’s Valencia overcame Marseille within the UEFA Cup remaining in Gothenburg, with Vicente’s penalty in first-half stoppage time giving them the lead.
Vicente turned supplier simply earlier than the hour when he arrange Mista to double Valencia’s lead and seal victory, including to their La Liga success that season.
3. Sevilla 4-0 Middlesbrough – 2006 UEFA Cup Ultimate
The Premier League aspect had made a behavior of dramatic comebacks to search out themselves within the UEFA Cup remaining, however that was very a lot the place momentum ran out for Middlesbrough and Steve McClaren in Eindhoven.
A Boro group that included Gareth Southgate and Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink – now of England’s teaching employees – was soundly crushed because of targets from Luís Fabiano and Frédéric Kanouté both aspect of a brace from recently-appointed Chelsea supervisor Enzo Maresca.
Southgate performed in opposition to Jesús Navas that day, who may line up for Spain in Sunday’s Euro 2024 remaining.
4. Barcelona 2-1 Arsenal – 2006 Champions League Ultimate
Regardless of a purple card for goalkeeper Jens Lehmann in simply the 18th minute in Paris, Sol Campbell gave the Premier League aspect a first-half lead and Arsène Wenger’s males held on valiantly till late on.
Samuel Eto’o equalised with 14 minutes to go, earlier than Juliano Belletti squeezed within the winner simply 4 minutes later for Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona.
5. Sevilla 2-2 Espanyol (3-1 pens) – 2007 UEFA Cup Ultimate
Adriano’s opener for Sevilla was cancelled out by Albert Riera’s equaliser at Hampden Park, sending the sport to extra-time, the place Kanouté put Juande Ramos’ aspect again in entrance, just for Jônatas to degree and take issues to penalties.
Walter Pandiani was the one participant to attain any of Espanyol’s 4 penalties as three profitable kicks out of 4 handed Sevilla the trophy.
6. Spain 1-0 Germany – Euro 2008 Ultimate
Spain claimed their first main title for 44 years after impressing at Euro 2008 in Austria and Switzerland.
A aim from Fernando Torres was sufficient to safe the title, with the striker operating on to a ball from Xavi and lifting his end over Germany goalkeeper Lehmann.
7. Barcelona 2-0 Manchester United – 2009 Champions League Ultimate
It was a conflict of generational managers as Pep Guardiola took on Alex Ferguson in Rome.
Unsurprisingly given the purpose of this record, it was the Catalans who triumphed because of targets from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi, with the Argentine scoring a uncommon header.
8. Atlético Madrid 2-1 Fulham (AET) – 2010 Europa League Ultimate
Atlético had already eradicated Liverpool within the semi-finals and got here up in opposition to Roy Hodgson’s Fulham within the first Europa League remaining in Hamburg following the rebranding of the UEFA Cup.
Diego Forlán put Quique Sánchez Flores’ males in entrance within the thirty second minute, just for Simon Davies to equalise simply 5 minutes later. Forlán struck once more in extra-time to win it for Atléti.
9. Spain 1-0 Netherlands (aet) – 2010 World Cup Ultimate
Simply two years after their first main trophy in 44 years, Spain had been at it once more, this time profitable their first ever World Cup.
In one other shut remaining it was Andrés Iniesta who fired within the winner in Johannesburg, with the sport simply 4 minutes away from going to penalties.
10. Barcelona 3-1 Manchester United – 2011 Champions League Ultimate
A replay of the 2009 remaining, solely this time at Wembley Stadium. That didn’t give the English aspect a lot benefit although, with Pedro placing Barça in entrance early on.
Wayne Rooney equalised, earlier than Messi and David Villa’s second-half strikes noticed Guardiola’s males ease to victory.
11. Atlético Madrid 3-0 Athletic Bilbao – 2012 Europa League Ultimate
One other Europa League victory for Atlético, this time in opposition to fellow La Liga opposition. Marcelo Bielsa’s Athletic aspect had seemed nice all through the competitors, however they got here unstuck in opposition to Diego Simeone’s males.
Two first-half targets from Radamel Falcao and one other from Diego late on sealed a cushty victory for Atlético in Bucharest.
12. Spain 4-0 Italy – Euro 2012 Ultimate
By this level it was beginning to really feel like Spain won’t let every other nation win a serious event once more, particularly given the character of this demolition of Italy.
David Silva and Jordi Alba had given La Roja a 2-0 lead by half-time, earlier than Torres and Juan Mata scored late on to offer the rating a one-sided look in Kyiv.
13. Sevilla 0-0 Benfica (4-2 pens) – 2014 Europa League Ultimate
Sevilla had been at it once more, this time beating Benfica on penalties in Turin.
After a reasonably eventless 120 minutes, Unai Emery’s aspect had been flawless from the spot, scoring all 4 of their penalties. Óscar Cardozo and Rodrigo each failed with their kicks, permitting Kevin Gameiro to fit the profitable penalty.
14. Actual Madrid 4-1 Atlético Madrid (aet) – 2014 Champions League Ultimate
The primary ever Madrid derby in a Champions League remaining was quite a bit nearer than the scoreline suggests.
In actual fact, for a lot of the sport it seemed as if Diego Godín’s aim was going to win it for Atlético earlier than Sergio Ramos’ 93rd-minute equaliser took it to extra-time. Gareth Bale, Marcelo and a Cristiano Ronaldo penalty then took Carlo Ancelotti’s aspect to victory.
15. Sevilla 3-2 Dnipro – 2015 Europa League Ultimate
Towards the shock bundle from Ukraine, Sevilla managed to seal one other Europa League trophy.
Nikola Kalinić gave Dnipro an early lead earlier than Grzegorz Krychowiak and Carlos Bacca turned issues round for the La Liga aspect. Ruslan Rotan made it 2-2 simply earlier than half-time in Warsaw, however Bacca scored the winner within the 73rd minute for Emery’s males.
16. Barcelona 3-1 Juventus – 2015 Champions League Ultimate
This remaining felt prefer it may be over early as Ivan Rakitić put Barcelona forward lower than 4 minutes in on the Olympiastadion in Berlin, however Juventus fought again and equalised by Álvaro Morata 10 minutes into the second half.
Nonetheless, Luis Suárez restored Barça’s lead quickly after, earlier than Neymar wrapped issues up on the counter-attack deep into stoppage time.
17. Sevilla 3-1 Liverpool – 2016 Europa League Ultimate
Emery’s Sevilla made it an astonishing three successive Europa League wins in a row in Basel, coming from behind to beat Jürgen Klopp’s Liverpool.
Daniel Sturridge had given the Premier League aspect a half-time lead, however Gameiro equalised inside the primary minute of the second half. Two targets from Coke swung issues in Sevilla’s favour as they celebrated yet one more victory in what was turning into their competitors.
18. Actual Madrid 1-1 Atlético Madrid (5-3 pens) – 2016 Champions League Ultimate
Two years after the primary Madrid derby in a European remaining, they met once more in Milan.
As soon as extra it was a detailed sport and as soon as extra Ramos scored, this time within the fifteenth minute to offer Actual the lead. Yannick Carrasco equalised to drive extra-time, after which it was penalties.
The primary seven penalties had been all scored, earlier than Juanfran failed from the spot. That allowed Cristiano Ronaldo to have the second of glory and rating the profitable penalty.
19. Actual Madrid 4-1 Juventus – 2017 Champions League Ultimate
Zinedine Zidane’s aspect returned for extra glory a 12 months later, this time dispatching Juventus in a neater method in Cardiff.
Ronaldo opened the scoring just for Mario Mandzukic to equalise quickly after with an excellent strike. Second-half targets from Casemiro, Ronaldo and Marco Asensio sealed a cushty win for the La Liga giants.
20. Atlético Madrid 3-0 Marseille – 2018 Europa League Ultimate
The next season it was an equally easy victory for Atlético within the Europa League remaining in Lyon.
A brace from Antoine Griezmann both aspect of half-time was adopted by a late aim from Gabi in opposition to Rudi Garcia’s underwhelming Marseille.
21. Actual Madrid 3-1 Liverpool – 2018 Champions League Ultimate
Something Sevilla may do, Actual Madrid may match – however within the Champions League. Zidane’s males gained a 3rd successive title in Kyiv because of a questionable efficiency from Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius and a second of genius from Bale.
Karim Benzema scored the opener when Karius inexplicably threw the ball in opposition to his outstretched boot, earlier than Sadio Mané equalised for Klopp’s males. A shocking overhead kick from Bale put Madrid again in entrance, and a long-range effort from the Welshman slipped by Karius’ palms and over the road to seal issues.
22. Sevilla 3-2 Inter Milan – 2020 Europa League Ultimate
They had been again! Sevilla returned to elevate one other Europa League trophy in a remaining performed behind closed doorways in Cologne as a result of Covid-19 pandemic.
It was a busy first half, with Romelu Lukaku’s penalty placing Inter forward earlier than a Luuk de Jong brace noticed Sevilla go forward. Diego Godín made it 2-2 earlier than half-time, however it was Lukaku’s unlucky personal aim 16 minutes from time that determined issues.
23. Villarreal 1-1 Manchester United (11-10 pens) – 2021 Europa League Ultimate
Simply to combine issues up, it was a unique La Liga aspect who lifted the Europa League the next season. And it was that man Emery on the helm once more.
Gerard Moreno put Villarreal in entrance earlier than Edinson Cavani equalised for United in Gdańsk. The eventual shootout remarkably noticed the primary 21 penalties all scored. It took United goalkeeper David de Gea to overlook his to lastly resolve the vacation spot of the trophy.
24. Actual Madrid 1-0 Liverpool – 2022 Champions League Ultimate
A repeat of the 2018 remaining, and a repeat of the end result with Los Blancos popping out on high.
Liverpool had the higher of the sport in Paris, having 24 photographs to Madrid’s 4, however an impressed efficiency from Thibaut Courtois and a profitable aim from Vinícius Júnior had been sufficient to safe one other Champions League win for Carlo Ancelotti’s aspect.
25. Sevilla 1-1 Roma (4-1 pens) – 2023 Europa League Ultimate
This one was fascinatingly arrange. Unai Emery versus José Mourinho. Two impeccable information in European soccer; one thing needed to give.
Virtually inevitably, it went to penalties in Budapest after a Paulo Dybala strike and a Gianluca Mancini personal aim. Mancini had a sport to neglect after additionally lacking his penalty within the shootout, as did Roger Ibañez, permitting Gonzalo Montiel to attain the winner for Sevilla, as he had carried out for Argentina within the World Cup remaining only a few months earlier.
26. Actual Madrid 2-0 Borussia Dortmund – 2024 Champions League Ultimate
The latest profitable remaining for a Spanish aspect was simply two months in the past when Actual Madrid overcame a sport Dortmund at Wembley.
Regardless of the Bundesliga aspect having a number of possibilities, it was Dani Carvajal who headed within the opener with 16 minutes of regular time left. Salt was rubbed into the injuries when Vinícius made it 2-0 simply 9 minutes later as Ancelotti and Madrid celebrated yet one more Champions League victory.
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