#5 Spain lose their way towards the end and pay for it
Trending
Once Spain had the lead, they were in control only for the next 10 to 15 minutes. Ciro Immobile came on for Pelle while Andrea Belotti replaced Parolo. The substitutions worked as Italy attacked with more purpose while Spain started to lose steam.
Whenever Spain lost the ball or turned it over, Italy seemed to find space all over the park as static Spanish players watched on helplessly on more than one occasion. One particular counter saw only Iniesta stand in their way and the 32-year-old had to put in a desperate tackle to put the ball out of play and allow Spain to recover.
But Italy got their breakthrough as Ramos’ terrible form for his club did not differentiate between a white shirt or a red one. A late challenge saw Eder fall to the floor and the assistant signalling that it was a penalty.
De Rossi stepped up and sent De Gea the wrong way to tie it up at 1-1 and set up a tense final 10 minutes. They almost doubled the lead too, if not for the offside flag. In the end, 1-1 was a fair result after a thoroughly exciting game.
