Spain has lost in the round of 16 of the World Cup on penalties against Morocco, in an example of the enormous effort that La Roja makes to generate chances against rivals who play withdrawn behind.
Luis Enrique's men have been unable to find spaces: the chains of horizontal passes hardly put the Africans in trouble, who closely marked the Spanish midfielders.
Busquets constantly had three or four opponents on top of him.
The graph shows the Spanish dominance of the match, with a Moroccan flash before the break and several shots from La Roja around minute 80.
Neither team came close to scoring: the expected goals for both fell short of one.
Spain's goalscoring inability reached the maximum penalty, where Spain's role was disastrous.
Sarabia, Carlos Soler and Busquets failed from 11 meters.
The first one hit the post and the last two were saved by the Moroccan goalkeeper, Bono.
The African team scored three of the four they shot.
The one that failed was stopped by Unai Simón.
Morocco
goals
failures
ziyech
banoun
Sabiri
achraf
1-0 Sabiri
2-0 Ziyech
2-0 Banoun
3-0 Achraf
Spain
goals
failures
Busquets
Sarabia
to usually do
1-0 Sarabia
2-0 Carlos Soler
2-0 Busquets
Morocco
goals
failures
ziyech
banoun
Sabiri
achraf
1-0 Sabiri
2-0 Ziyech
2-0 Banoun
3-0 Achraf
Spain
goals
failures
Busquets
Sarabia
to usually do
1-0 Sarabia
2-0 Carlos Soler
2-0 Busquets
Morocco
Spain
goals
failures
goals
failures
ziyech
Busquets
banoun
Sarabia
Sabiri
to usually do
achraf
1-0 Sabiri
1-0 Sarabia
2-0 Ziyech
2-0 Carlos Soler
2-0 Banoun
2-0 Busquets
3-0 Achraf
Morocco
Spain
goals
failures
goals
failures
ziyech
Busquets
to usually do
banoun
Sarabia
Sabiri
achraf
1-0 Sabiri
1-0 Sarabia
2-0 Ziyech
2-0 Carlos Soler
2-0 Banoun
2-0 Busquets
3-0 Achraf
Bono
guessed where the three Spaniards took the penalties.
Spain got entangled in the Moroccan defense
Morocco entered the field with a strategy similar to the one followed by Japan in the last game of the group stage.
Regragui's men came out with a compact team in defense and trusting in the starts of Ziyech and En-Nesyri.
The discipline of the Atlas Lions, however, faltered at times.
The graph above shows the average position of Luis Enrique's players in the first 25 minutes of the first half and in the last 20: La Roja advanced their positions because Morocco went even further back and left more gaps for the Spanish midfielders.
Minute 0 - 25
Elm
Asensio
ferran
At the start of the match Spain crashed in midfield and failed to progress
Minute 25 - rest
Gavi
Pedro
Gavi and Pedri exchanged their positions and Spain cornered the rival more.
Minute 0 - 25
Elm
Asensio
ferran
At the start of the match Spain crashed in midfield and failed to progress
Minute 25 - rest
Gavi
Pedro
Gavi and Pedri exchanged their positions and Spain cornered the rival more.
Minute 0 - 25
Minute 25 - rest
ferran
Asensio
Gavi
Pedro
Elm
At the start of the match Spain crashed in midfield and failed to progress
Gavi and Pedri exchanged their positions and Spain cornered the rival more.
Minute 0 - 25
Minute 25 - rest
ferran
Asensio
Gavi
Pedro
Elm
At the start of the match Spain crashed in midfield and failed to progress
Gavi and Pedri exchanged their positions and Spain cornered the rival more.
The script was kept during the second part.
Morocco was waiting behind the Spanish.
The plays began with the center-backs almost on the midfield line, moving the ball from side to side, passed through the midfielders and stalled as they approached the rival area, where Morocco came to draw a line of six in defense.
Nico Williams, who came on for Ferran Torres in the second half, widened the field with his overflows, and launched some of the Red's most intentional crosses.
Minute 0 - 25
Elm
Pedro
Spain continues to play in the opposite field.
Minute 25 - rest
Busquets
williams
Busquets came to advance his position in extra time and Williams opened the field even more
Minute 0 - 25
Elm
Pedro
Spain continues to play in the opposite field.
Minute 25 - rest
Busquets
williams
Busquets came to advance his position in extra time and Williams opened the field even more
Second part
Extension
williams
Elm
Busquets
Pedro
Spain continues to play in the opposite field.
Busquets came to advance his position in extra time and Williams opened the field even more
Second part
Extension
williams
Elm
Busquets
Pedro
Busquets came to advance his position in extra time and Williams opened the field even more
Spain continues to play in the opposite field.
More than 200 passes up and only one shot on goal
La selección española dio 207 pases buenos en el último tercio del campo, solo tres menos que los enlazados contra Costa Rica, cuando metieron siete tantos. En comparación, Brasil en su partido de octavos solo necesitó 115 para marcar cuatro goles a Corea del Sur. Francia, 144 para sumar tres tantos ante Polonia. Los de Luis Enrique tocaron el balón dentro del área contraria 27 veces, casi tantas como Brasil (33) y más que Francia (25), pero no consiguieron finalizar más que un tiro a puerta, por nueve de Brasil y ocho de Francia. En todo el campo, España dio 975 con éxito, por 235 de Marruecos.
Marruecos
Goles 0
Tiros 6 (2 a puerta)
0,73xG
Goles esperados
España
Goles 0
Tiros 13 (1 a puerta)
0,93xG
Goles esperados
Marruecos
Goles 0
Tiros 6 (2 a puerta)
0,73xG
Goles esperados
España
Goles 0
Tiros 13 (1 a puerta)
0,93xG
Goles esperados
Marruecos
España
Goles 0
Tiros 6 (2 a puerta)
Goles 0
Tiros 13 (1 a puerta)
0,73xG
0,93xG
Goles esperados
Goles esperados
Marruecos
España
Goles 0
Tiros 6 (2 a puerta)
Goles 0
Tiros 13 (1 a puerta)
0,73xG
0,93xG
Goles esperados
Goles esperados
España no se impone en un partido de fase final de Eurocopa o Mundial en los 90 minutos reglamentarios desde hace más de 10 años, en la final de julio de 2012 ante Italia. Ya fuera del Mundial de Qatar, tendrán que pasar otros dos años para intentar terminar un encuentro eliminatorio sin recurrir a la prórroga.
Fuentes y glosario
Goles esperados. Los goles que debería haber marcado un jugador o un equipo con sus remates, sumando la probabilidad que tenía cada uno de acabar en gol. El cálculo de la estadística tiene en cuenta la posición del disparo, el tipo de remate o la posición del portero.
Momentum of the party
Which team is creating more dangerous situations in each minute.
It is calculated from the recent ball possessions of each team and their probability of ending in a goal.
Controlling the ball has a different value depending on the position: retaining the ball between your central defenders is not as dangerous as reaching the opponent's small area.
Data source: Opta.
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