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| French players Yann M’Vila (L) and Karim Benzema (R) stretch during a training session in Donetsk ahead of their quarter-final clash against Spain today |
The two teams clash in a Euro 2012 quarter-final in the Donbass Arena in Donetsk and Spain have never beaten France in the previous six competitive meetings.
Spain are the overwhelming favourites even though La Roja looked far from impressive in their final group C game and needed a late goal from substitute Jesus Navas to beat Croatia and finish top of the group ahead of Italy.
But while the whole Spanish squad showed unity afterwards, France had some off-the-field antics again following a 2-0 defeat against Sweden - two years after their infamous early exit amid in-house fighting at the World Cup. Coach Laurent Blanc had words with Hatem Ben Arfa and midfielders Samir Nasri and Alou Diarra were also involved in a disagreement.
Although the French camp was at pains on Thursday to point out that the air had been cleared and all was well again, there is little doubt that internal strife is not the best way to prepare for a match against the reigning European and world champions.
Les Blues, can, however, draw some consolation that they have never lost against Spain in six previous competitive encounters between the two sides, winning five and drawing one.
Among others, France beat Spain 2-0 in the Euro 1984 final in Paris to lift their first international trophy, 2-1 in the Euro 2000 quarter-finals en route to their second continental title, and again 3-1 in the 2006 World Cup round of 16.
Midfielder Florent Malouda was a member of the 2006 team and believes that France can do it again.
“The knowledge that we have beaten them will help us believe we’re capable of winning such a decisive game,” he told reporters.
“It’s possible. We respect Spain a lot - they have been setting the standards for the rest of the world for six years - but whenever we come into a competition we do everything we can to win it,” he told journalists.
“We didn’t show up against Sweden, but we’ll make the changes we need to make to beat Spain.”
Malouda, who plays alongside Spanish internationals Juan Mata and Fernando Torres at Champions League winners Chelsea, is aware that Spain are technically outstanding.
“They’re all comfortable with the ball and they can control possession. When you play them, you have to be tactically disciplined to deny them space.” Atletico Madrid defender Juanfran does not think that his side is out for revenge for the 2006 defeat, even though several players in the Spanish team played that day.
“Being eliminated by France in that World Cup was a really sad day. A match against France has always been a massive occasion for Spain but this is not anything to do with revenge,” he told a news conference on Thursday.
Team-mate Javi Martinez said he wouldn’t mind a similar string of 1-0 wins in the knockout stages as at the 2010 World Cup starting with the difficult game against France.
“France are one of the teams most willing and able to fight for possession. They have fast, creative players and they will want to play a little rather than just packing the defence; they will be one of the most difficult rivals to overcome at this tournament,” he said.
Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has a full squad at his disposal while Blanc will replace suspended centre-back Philippe Mexes with Laurent Koscielny.
The scorers from the 2-0 victory over Ukraine, Yohan Cabaye and Jeremy Menez, are expected to return into the first 11 after not starting against Sweden, and up front Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema will be chasing his first goal of the tournament.
Blanc promises changes to disrupt Spain’s rhythm
Laurent Blanc says he will “definitely” make changes to France’s starting line-up as they bid to contain the all-conquering Spain in their Euro 2012 quarter-final today.
Having seeing his team’s 23-game unbeaten run ended by Sweden on Tuesday, Blanc believes it would be foolish for France to go toe-to-toe with the world and European champions.
Blanc will already be without the suspended Philippe Mexes and when he was asked if he would make further changes, he replied: “Definitely.”
He added: “I often say that you should adapt as little as possible to your opponents and play your own game, but we’re up against a very strong team with a well-established style of play.
“They have players who are used to playing together for their clubs. Spain’s level of play is much higher than ours, so we’ll definitely have to adapt to their play.
“But that doesn’t mean we’ll abandon our own strengths. We’ll have a team that can do both.”
Blanc is particularly concerned by the fact that his players will probably have to spend long periods of the game without the ball.
“When do you adapt to a team? When they have the ball,” he explained.
“The problem with Spain is that they average 65 to 70 percent of possession. So you’re left with a third of possession. But for 70 percent of the game, you have to adapt to Spain because they have the ball and you don’t.
“You could go for it and play with four forwards, but the problem is that your wingers would spend the game playing next to their own corner flags.”