Spain, second in its group, hosts Scotland, leader, on Thursday evening as part of the Euro 2024 qualifiers.
Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente insisted on Wednesday on the importance of Thursday’s match against Scotland, where a victory “would almost open the door to qualification” for Euro 2024.
Second in Group A of the qualifiers, Spain faces Scotland, undefeated leader, on Thursday in Seville (8:45 p.m.) and Norway on Sunday, with the opportunity to secure its place at the Euro in Germany, if it wins these two met.
“Since the end of the September rally, we were already aware of the importance of these two matches, and of the importance of tomorrow’s match, which is decisive”said De la Fuente during the pre-match press conference at the Olympic Stadium in Seville.
“The very idea of being able to seal qualification in these two matches shows the importance of these matches”added the Spanish coach, who believes that his team “is much better” than during the defeat in the first leg in Glasgow (2-0).
Even if his midfielder Rodri sees it as a sort of revenge, De la Fuente believes that it is “just a football match where we have to fight to win, not a revenge”.
Scotland one step away from the Euro
Scottish coach Dave Clarke admits “not to remember” criticism from the Manchester City community, who then said that the Scots “always waste time, provoke you, fall… For me, that’s not football.”
“It’s a big challenge for us, against a very good team, who have won the Nations League»recalled Dave Clarke, whose men can also validate their qualification for the Euro in the event of success on Thursday.
“We want to do the job (qualify) as soon as possible. If we get there tomorrow that would be great. Otherwise, we will have two more opportunities in November, because we started well with 15 points in five games. summed up the Scottish coach.
“When we faced them in March they were a bit in the middle of a transition between coaches after a disappointing World Cup”analyzed Clarke about the first leg victory.
“We will really have to be very good to obtain a positive result tomorrow” he added, as Spain have won all their matches since the setback in Glasgow.
