Enlarge image
Spain's Mikel Oiarzabal (left) celebrating goals with Alvaro Morata against Croatia
Photo:
MARTIN MEISSNER / AFP
Would you like to
refresh your knowledge of the eight best teams for the quarter-finals of the
European Football Championship
?
The most important
information about the game
France
against
Switzerland
on Friday (6 p.m., TV:
ZDF
, stream: MagentaTV, live ticker: SPIEGEL.de) can be found here.
What are the chances of the Swiss?
The curse of the round of 16 has been broken: a spectacular victory on penalties against world champions France brings Switzerland into the top eight of a major tournament for the first time since the 1954 World Cup after several unsuccessful attempts.
The team of coach Vladimir Petković rewarded themselves for a great performance and even greater morale, and in the end there was the biggest sensation of the tournament so far.
Only Switzerland itself can top that on the half of the tournament tree: In the quarter-finals against Spain, she is again the underdog - and it would also be in the semi-finals against Belgium or Italy, should the next giant be brought down.
Which player will be important?
Yann Sommer was the celebrated hero at the end of the Swiss penalty drama against France, but the architect of the sensational victory played in the central midfield: Granit Xhaka collected 101 ball contacts against the world champion, just as many as the French playmaker Paul Pogba, and prepared the 3: 3 by Mario Gavranović in the last second.
Against the Spaniards, the captain is missing a yellow card, Denis Zakaria is available as the first replacement.
The Gladbacher is seen as dynamic and strong, but will also be required as an organizing hand in midfield if Switzerland does not want to completely relinquish control of the game to the opponent.
What else is there to know?
The experienced members of the Swiss squad are often referred to as the “golden generation” - the honorary title originated from the fact that the Swiss with Xhaka, Sommer, Gavranović, Admir Mehmedi and Xherdan Shaqiri made it to the finals of the U21 European Championship in 2011.
There was only silver there - because of a 2-0 defeat against Spain.
From the Spanish squad from back then, only David de Gea and Thiago are at the EM, both of whom have been replacements so far.
What are the chances of the Spaniards?
Luis Enrique's team is still not too easy to see through: In the round of 16, the Spaniards scored a bizarre own goal, gave up a 3-1 lead in the final minutes - and with their sometimes wonderfully coordinated moves they looked like a team who can play for the title.
Against Switzerland, another game with ball possession values above 60 percent is to be expected - but another spectacle would be a surprise despite the Spanish playing strength.
Which player will be important?
Spain's philosophy of many passes could face a challenge against a deep Swiss defensive line, similar to that against Sweden and Poland: that is, when the fast path into the deep is blocked.
The draw from the preliminary round show that Luis Enrique's team is then threatened with a tedious game of patience.
Fortunately for Spain, La Roja has some players who can also play through deep defenses - such as Ferrán Torres: The right-winger of Manchester City knows from the club how to crack opponents as a team and has the wit to be individual to do its part.
Torres got off to a strong start in the knockout phase: he scored a goal against Croatia and scored one himself.
What else is there to know?
The Spanish tournament follows the ketchup bottle principle: first nothing happened offensively, then everything at once. Five goals against Slovakia, five goals against Croatia: That is the number of times no team has ever scored in two consecutive games at a European Championship. It's a bit of equalizing justice: Álvaro Morata, for example, has already scored 16 times, more than any other player in the tournament. It is only logical that the much scolded striker rewarded himself with his second tournament goal against Croatia and was able to rehabilitate for missed shots from the group phase.
