Spain U21 take on the visitors Ukraine U21 in the round 3 match of UEFA Euro U21 group stage. The match will be played on Tuesday, June 27th at Superbet Arena - Giulesti (Bucharest).
Spain could have been even stronger. Players like Gavi, Ansu Fati, Pino would definitely be starters, but they were involved with the senior national team winning the Nations League this month. Additionally, there are Alejandro Balde, Eric Garcia, Gilhamon, Arnau Martinez, Sanset, Nico Williams, Brian Hill, Ferran Torres, and, of course, Pedri. However, even without them, Spain has shown in this cycle that they are the natural favorites at this age level. They have competitors to match: since 2011, the U21 team has been the champion three times, making the semifinals in 2021 appear as a failure. In the new qualification campaign, the national team achieved a perfect result: 8 wins in 8 matches. The favorite started the tournament against the hosts, Romania. However, Romania's status as an opponent did not help them. Spain held them to a goalless draw in the first half but secured a 3-0 victory after the break. The match against Croatia had a completely opposite scenario. Spain conceded a goal in the opening attack, in the 1st minute, and then they managed to maintain that minimal advantage.
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Ukraine made their debut in the U21 European Championship in 2006 and immediately reached the final. Then there was a pause until the 2011 championship when they failed to advance from the group stage. Afterward, they experienced five consecutive unsuccessful cycles. However, in the recent qualification campaign, under the guidance of Ruslan Rotan, Ukraine managed to gather 23 points in 10 matches, comfortably surpassing Serbia but losing to the favorite, France. As a result, they had to play an additional playoff match against their neighbor, Slovakia. After losing 2-3 away, they secured a resounding 3-0 victory in the formal "home" leg. In their first match at the Euros, they faced Croatia. By the way, several players, including Trubin, Sudakov, Mudrik, and Vanat, were called up to the senior national team after the qualification matches. However, only Trubin started the game and kept a clean sheet. The hero of the match was Kashchuk, who scored a goal and provided an assist, leading to a 2-0 victory over the "checkered" team. Against Romania, the tournament hosts, it wasn't an easy match, and the opponent had their chances. However, overall, Ukraine was the stronger side and managed to seal a 1-0 victory, even playing with ten men towards the end, securing their early qualification for the knockout stage.
Twenty years ago, in 2003, Spain performed better in the qualifiers: 0-0 away and 2-0 at home. Furthermore, in Euro 2011, "La Rojita" thrashed Ukraine 3-0. "La Rojita" is considered the clear favorite in this match. However, both teams don't have any tournament tasks and it would be better for them to conserve their energy for the knockout matches. Therefore, the prediction is "under 2.5 goals."
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 scored goals.
