A disappointment in many ways. Expectation levels were high heading into the game last night but, mindful of the threat Spain possess, Laurent Blanc opted to leave out Samir Nasri to bolster his defensive game.
The resulting ninety minutes failed to ever ignite; Spain, as efficient and threatening as ever, did what was required but barely flexed their muscles in strolling to victory. This was the tenth game I have looked at in Euro 2012 in terms of scoring chances and the team totals - Spain out-chancing France 6-2 - was by far the lowest game total (England's draw with Sweden which saw 16 chances - eight apiece - the previous lowest) so far.
Heading into the game the duo of Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery had combined for a total of 31 scoring chances, yet last night had just one between them and without a Nasri or Jeremy Menez in support they were unable to remotely threaten the Spaniards. France also far from helped their cause with errors that directly led to the scoring chances on both goals/.
With just six scoring chances it was no surprise that the numbers were also low for Spain, with Xabi Alonso and Xavi (now 22 total for the tournament) the only players who scored more than +1.
The individual totals are as follows (click the images to enlarge):
