Enrique relieved as Spain pop Cava bottle with big Slovakia win

LUIS Enrique admitted he was relieved to be proved right that Spain were like a bottle of Cava waiting to pop after his side ended their struggle for goals in style with a 5-0 thrashing of Slovakia at Euro 2020 on Wednesday.

The coach made the comparison before the game on the back of disappointing draws against Sweden and Poland in which they mustered one goal.

It was a different story against the Slovakians, as Spain let loose to show their true potential for the first time at the tournament.

But Enrique was not getting carried away with the result as his side secured second spot in Group E to reach the last 16.

“We will go step by step. I’ve spoken about what I believe we can achieve and the expectations we have as a national team and I haven’t changed my opinion,” Enrique told a news conference.

“We have certainly popped that bottle of Cava, therefore we are delighted, we are pleased the fans and players have had a good time. Now it’s time for us to get another bottle of Cava and see if we can pop that too.”

Spain’s victory was the biggest of the tournament and came courtesy of goals from Aymeric Laporte, Pablo Sarabia and Ferran Torres, as well as Martin Dubravka and Juraj Kucka own goals.

“It is a relief. Not just for me, but in terms of what it means with our ability to achieve a convincing result with our style,” Enrique added.

“I believe people can have plenty of complaints, but I really don’t think there can be any criticisms of today. We will prepare for the last16 with plenty of confidence and we’re desperate for Monday to come around soon.”

Next up for Spain is a last16 clash with 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia in Copenhagen on Monday, a side captained by Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric.

“They are a top team with players we know well, we played in the Nations League two years ago as well,” Enrique said.

“It will be a tough match but when you get to last 16 you can’t expect easy teams.”

Enrique made four changes to his starting XI for the Slovakia game including picking midfielder Sergio Busquets, who was named Star of the Match by Uefa in his first Euro 2020 appearance since returning to the squad after 12 days in self-isolation as he recovered from Covid-19.

“This is likely to be my final European Championship so I was desperate to get here,” Busquets said.