For all their neat and intricate passing, if Spain are to be judged as real Euro 2020 contenders, they must solve their problem up front.
After their 0-0 draw with Sweden in the opener, this was an opportunity for Spain to prove their credentials as Euro 2020 hopefuls.
Spain finished with 69% possession — a little below the 85% they had against Sweden in their 0-0 opener — and despite having scored only one goal, have the highest combined expected goals out of any team in this tournament with 5.70.
He has had €180 million spent on him cumulatively in his club career, and is working at a pretty good strike rate of 19 in 42 for Spain.
He pinpointed how Raul and Fernando Torres had fewer goals than him after 41 appearances — he then ran through the likes of France’s Kylian Mbappe and Antoine Griezmann, and Belgium’s Romelu Lukaku, who also fell below Morata’s scoring rate at international level.
Having endured a difficult relationship with the offside line in the VAR era — he had 13 strikes for Juventus ruled out for being offside in 2020, including a hat trick of disallowed goals against Barcelona in the Champions League — he finally got a glimpse of luck as Bartosz Bereszynski’s left foot kept him onside as he stroked home Moreno’s cross in the 25th minute.
He squandered two clear chances in the second half, first failing to convert the rebound off Moreno’s penalty, and then hitting a point-blank chance squarely at Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny.
Spain haven’t yet harnessed this and must find a way to get him into the box more, though he too was guilty of squandering two brilliant chances — first an opportunity late in the first half as he attacked the near post and shot wide, and then the penalty.
Spain have tried in vain to solve this problem with Diego Costa and Rodrigo coming and going, while Celta Vigo’s Iago Aspas was curiously omitted from the 26-man squad, leaving just Morata and Moreno as traditional options.
The neat tika-taka passing between Spain’s midfield three does not naturally lend itself to utilising the width that Jordi Alba and the outstanding — and wasted — Marcos Llorente offer.
It was Alba who had to sprint back in the first half as Lewandowski threatened to go the length of the field after intercepting a pass on the edge of his own box.
Of course, for a striker like him who is the best in the world, goals are vital.
He had two chances in the last game, and didn’t have the capacity so score there, but he is crossing, fighting and helping the team,” Sousa added.
You saw him grafting out on the wing, attempting to force Spain into errors, and once Poland pressed as a unit in the final third, it produced the goods.
It was a pinpoint cross from Swiderski again, and he outjumped and bullied Aymeric Laporte — hardly a diminutive defender — to head past Unai Simon.
He has this wonderful ability to preempt moves before they materialise — his movement is not necessarily in hope, but more expectation.
Spain have played some beautiful football, and if these Euros were decided on the ability to keep the ball, then they’d walk it.
“The type of players we have in this team are players who can play good attacking football and can press well.
Slovakia are next up for La Roja, and they need a win if they are to go through as winners of Group E.