Albania produced an admirable showing in Düsseldorf, but couldn’t take control of their fate, succumbing to a one-goal defeat at the hands of the Spaniards. The result confirmed their position at the bottom of Group B, with their opponents having already secured top spot the match prior.
Ferran Torres slotted his 20th goal for Spain into the far corner within the game’s first quarter of an hour, set up by a deft through ball from RB Leipzig’s Dani Olmo. Spain’s early goal despite their almost fully rotated lineup seemed to promise a game in which la Roja would cruise to a comfortable victory, however, a side can become too relaxed in the face of such situations.
Albania rallied behind their desperate situation, fighting back and taking the game to Spain in the second half. A passive low block evolved into a system of aggressive pressure in the middle of the pitch, followed by blistering attacks when the ball was recovered. Substitute Armando Broja found himself in the right place at the right time on more than one occasion, but couldn’t convert for the Kuqezinjtë.
Spain rode out the pressure to top the group and send a courageous Albania home, but with the promise that with an easier group draw, they may yet have more success on the international stage in their near future.
Albania
Thomas Strakosha – 6
It was an unexpectedly quiet game for Strakosha in the Albanian net, having to face less shots on target than his Spanish counterpart. Conceding inside the first 15 minutes is never going to do wonders for a goalie’s confidence, but Strakosha could do nothing about the inch perfect effort of Ferran Torres, which curled into the bottom of the far post and in. Strakosha looked a little shaky when batting away some of the following cross attempts, but soon appeared to regain his composure and stamp his authority on his box, as well as making a few more routine saves without incident.
Ivan Balliu – 5
Being the weakest link in this Albania side is not to say Balliu was without his merits, he tracked Oyarzabal well in the game’s opening stages and did almost as well at dealing with Torres when the two swapped sides soon after. He became overwhelmed defensively when facing down the overlapping Grimaldo, whom he allowed to receive switch balls in space regularly, but this was always going to be the case in Albania’s narrow 4-4-2 block. Offensively, however, Balliu offered very little, and seemed to stifle the progression of the ball up to Asani on Albania’s right flank. Even as Albania grew into the game and began commanding the wide areas, Balliu’s impact was unremarkable.
Arlind Ajeti – 8
Ajeti appeared composed from the off when faced with both the aerially imposing Joselu and the stealthy runs of Torres and Oyarzabal. His class really began to show as Albania tentatively began pushing their formation up the pitch as the game progressed, Ajeti stopping Spanish counters in their tracks through clever reading of the game, before immediately driving forward and finding his teammates through the Spanish lines. An all round impressive performance.
Berat Djimsiti – 7
Djimsiti displayed exactly the kind of veteran presence that you would want from your captain. He hassled Olmo by stepping out as he received the ball, forcing the wasteful backheels and flicks that blemished his otherwise stellar performance. He also made some crucial tackles in and around the box to deny Spain high quality shots, resulting in the majority of their efforts at goal being speculative ones that failed to test the keeper. Djimsiti was a wall imposing enough that very few Spanish moves chose to even try and play through him.
Mario Mitaj – 6
He failed to stop Ferran Torres’ run in behind which resulted in the goal, but showed more promise in attack than his colleague on the other side of the pitch. Mitaj gave Bajrami a lot to work with, also linking up and rotating with Asllani at times, the two filling in the others’ positions during their runs to ensure there was always a central player and a wide option in possession.
Ylber Ramadani – 7
Ramadani’s impact on the game was not the most spectacular or obvious, but played a crucial part in allowing Albania to establish some control late in proceedings. Ramadani was positionally sound in Albania’s early block, but roared to life when stopping Spanish counters as his side advanced more players up the pitch. Ramadani covered so much ground, marshalling practically every area space left behind his advancing teammates. A great effort, sweeping up and getting his team possession from which they could launch an attack.
Kristjan Asllani – 8
The other piece in Albania’s impressive midfield puzzle, Asllani was more progressive than his partner, winning the ball deep and playing or driving through the lines. This way he provided a large amount of service to Bajrami, and later to Hoxha, as well as getting himself in position to force a solid save from Raya in the Spanish net. Positionally, Asllani was given a slightly more free role in build up, rotating with players on his left side to ensure options were always available, and allowing his side to play through the defensive efforts of Navas and Zubimendi.
Jasir Asani – 6
Asani looked dangerous in moments, especially when cutting in from the right side, but provided little in the way of consistent goal threat. Although he received few passes from his full back Balliu, he also failed to play him in on the overlap, wasting promising positions as a result of what could be a mutual lack of trust from the pair. It is clearly a problem area for the Albanians.
Qazim Laci – 5
Laci was anonymous for large swathes of the game, being most noticeable, despite his role as his team’s central creative midfielder, for his defensive work. Laci and Manaj teamed up to form the 2 in Albania’s 4-4-2 block when out of possession, the pair being tasked with marking Spain’s central midfield option out of the game when Spain’s centre-backs had the ball. It sometimes worked… That is about the best I can say for him, although it is not his fault that Albania found more luck progressing in the wide areas than centrally, and both his wingers failed to bring him into the game when they arrived at the edge of the box.
Nedim Bajrami – 7
Bajrami’s stats for the game tell an unflattering tale of wastefulness, but in the context of the game he was perhaps Albania’s most important attacker. Bajrami was the only member of their attacking unit that consistently managed to receive possession in promising areas, even if that meant roaming into central or even opposite areas of the pitch to find the ball. The story of what happened after these receptions is less impressive, but the fact that he was able to receive his midfielders’ line breaking balls gave Albania the air of threat on which they could build as they grew into the game.
Rey Manaj – 5
Much like Laci, Manaj never really received the ball in promising areas, and did a middling job of pinning Spain’s defenders back to open up space between their defensive and midfield lines. He won only a few of his duels and failed to create much from the few times he did make it onto the ball. There were no glaring errors, just a lack of the cutting edge that you would hope to see from your main man in attack.
Substitutes
Armando Broja – 7
Broja managed to find the ball in promising situations far more in his 30 minutes on the pitch than his counterpart had in the whole game. His movement and awareness was brilliant to earn him a free shot at goal from a cheekily taken free kick, and although his finishes in this and other instances let him down, he gave Spain’s back line something to think about.
Arber Hoxha – 8
Hoxha was a machine for Albania following his introduction in the 70th minute, picking up the ball deep and rushing at Spain’s defence with real menace time and time again. He seemed to stun opposition players as he relentlessly drove with the ball, and while, as is a theme in this Albania side, he lacked the clinicism that might have earned his team a win, he seemed to spur the side into controlling the game for that last spell.
Medon Berisha – 5
Having little impact after a 70th minute substitution would normally not be enough to earn someone a 5 on its own, however, the fact that Berisha had so much less impact than Hoxha despite their joint substitution means that he could have done more. He also missed playing a through ball that could have generated Albania’s best chance of the game, instead making the wrong decision and running himself into trouble.
Ernest Muci – N/A
Spain
David Raya – 7
Raya had little to do early in the match, but produced some solid saves to deny Albania an equaliser later on, and seemed generally assured in goal. This of course barring a bizarre kick which he rebounded off of the unfortunate Laporte, before catching the ball calmly on its way down. It was funny for the neutral but surely a tense moment for la Roja’s fans.
Jesús Navas – 8
Navas was immense going both forward and back against Albania, finding possession on the right flank regularly and playing sweeping back post balls and driven cutbacks alike with pinpoint accuracy. He was unlucky to be denied an assist after all of that hard work, but overall it was a performance that would likely produce questions over selection for the manager, if not for the form of Carvajal ahead of him.
Daniel Vivian – 7
Vivian was generally calm and collected when facing down Bajrami’s cutting inside, and managed to limit the amount of good chances created even as Albania seemed to close the pitch down upon Spain’s defensive third. In possession Vivian kept his team ticking through his 80 accurate passes, allowing Spain their trademark superiority in possession for the majority of the game. He seemed a little shaken for a time after Broja’s introduction, but soon recovered to see out a more than competent performance.
Aymeric Laporte – 6
Laporte was rarely called into action defensively for Spain during his time on the pitch, with Albania focusing largely on the side opposite to him. He did produce a few lovely incisive passes that cut through Albania’s block, one of which landing at the feet of Dani Olmo to turn and play in to Torres for Spain’s only goal. His half time substitution was perhaps the result of him losing out to Manaj in duels on a couple of occasions, Laporte potentially seen as a target that might have been better exploited if he had been left on for Broja’s imminent introduction.
Alejandro Grimaldo – 8
It’s indicative of the system Spain played with today that both full-backs shone as brightly as they did. Grimaldo found considerable luck down the left flank, getting on the end of switch balls before swinging threatening crosses towards the back post. Defensively he faced few challenges in the wide areas as Albania’s impotent right sided build up seemed to divert centrally before it ever faced the full back.
Martin Zubimendi – 7
The deepest of the midfield unit, Zubimendi coped well with Albania’s attempts to mark him out of the game. When he realised he was being closed out of possession by his opponent’s high duo, he dropped back between his centre-backs to form something resembling a back three, allowing the other two to spread out wide, and in turn give his full backs licence to get forward. Zubimendi seemed comfortable in possession, with 92% passing accuracy in the heart of Spain’s midfield. Not enough, however, to start a conversation regarding Rodri’s place in the team.
Mikel Merino – 8
Merino operated as a more advanced midfielder on the left side of the pitch, stepping up to the edge of Albania’s block and linking up with Grimaldo on the left wing as Oyarzabal and Torres came narrow and made runs through the block and into the box. Merino did the defensive work on the edge of his own box as well, using his imposing build to direct wingers inside where he and his teammates could safely force them backwards. Merino was wonderful as a box to box midfielder, even if he did sky a promising chance from a perfect Grimaldo cutback.
Ferran Torres – 8
Torres terrorised Albania’s full-backs during his time on the pitch, getting in behind and finishing exquisitely for his goal, but also popped up in good positions all over the pitch when Spain were in possession. He tucked in at the back post when crosses were coming in from the opposite side to form an overload of Spanish players in the box, resulting in an unmarked header soon after his goal which just missed the mark. Wherever he went, Spain’s threat followed, making Oyarzabal look uninspiring by comparison.
Dani Olmo – 8
If Spain had a main man today, it was Olmo. He was absolutely everywhere as he drifted between lines, received the ball, and played visionary passes through to his teammates, resulting in him notching an impressive assist. Olmo was sometimes guilty of trying to be too cute, with his backheels and flicks rarely coming off, but the volume of his creativity more than made up for his patchy completion rate. Sometimes the most creative players have to take risks in order to create chances out of nothing, few embody that philosophy like Olmo did today.
Mikel Oyarzabal – 6
Whilst not as creative as Olmo or Torres, Oyarzabal moved the ball around well on the left flank and was a dependable player for Merino and Grimaldo to link up with. He tucked in well for incoming crosses and was unmarked at the back post regularly if his teammates could find him, but the moment never came. An assured if not spectacular performance.
Joselu – 6
Joselu seemed to struggle at finding space in a packed penalty area, and failed to provide much goal threat from his usual positions around the six-yard box. He did, however, occupy multiple Albania defenders in these positions, producing the overload for crosses that could have easily paid dividends had the ball fallen slightly sweeter to Torres or Oyarzabal. He found himself inches from glory when his acrobatic effort nearly scraped the left post of Albania’s goal, but otherwise couldn’t grab the game by the horns.
Substitutes
Robin Le Normand – 5
Le Normand replaced Laporte during half time. It was a change that seemed to ignite a fire in Albanian hearts, as they gave him more to do in his first 15 minutes on the pitch than his compatriot had faced in the whole of the first half. A reckless challenge on Broja symbolised a nervy performance, but one that was good enough to go unpunished.
Fermín López – 6
López came on at an unfortunate time, as Albania gained ground and where a player of his skillset could not thrive as he might have hoped. He provided a spark in the dying embers of the game with his passing, but overall didn’t get the chance to show off everything he has to offer.
Lamine Yamal – 8
It is difficult to separate Yamal from the hype that has developed around him throughout the tournament and beyond, partly because of his abnormal age for this level, and partly because he is just simply that good. Yamal had only 20 minutes to make his mark on the game, but in that time period he beat his men left and right, making a fool of Mitaj at times. Yamal took two defenders out of the game with a single deft touch of a falling ball, and although his decision to pass rather than shoot from the ensuing position proved incorrect, it was hard not to smile in awe at the quality that he brought with him onto the pitch. He helped Spain claw back some momentum and quell the tide of Albanian pressure, and would surely have earned a 9 had he maintained these levels over a full match.
Álvaro Morata – 7
Morata’s introduction brought an element of advanced link up play to the game which Joselu had lacked, the highlight of which being a chested pass to play in his winger which few players could make look so casual. He looked like he might grab a goal for himself too at one point, but the ball was agonisingly too far away for the experienced striker to do anything with.
Álex Baena – N/A
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