Portugal and Spain face off in the last 16 of the World Cup on Monday night in what is one of the picks of the upcoming round.
Portugal scraped through their round of 32 tie with Croatia in dramatic fashion. In what was an unforgettable tie, a last-gasp Goncalo Ramos header proved the difference between the teams but it did not come without controversy.
Croatia had a late, late equaliser ruled out for offside, with the vital touch ultimately determined by sensory technology. It's believed the touch could have been caused by the player's hair, which feels very harsh in the spirit of the game.
There might be some concern amongst Portuguese fans at how fortunate they were to win that game, with Croatia very arguably the better team in the second half. In addition to the late disallowed goal, Croatia missed a number of chances and hit the post late on.
Portugal have struggled on a few occasions in this tournament, particularly in draws against DR Congo (1-1) and Colombia (0-0), the latter a game they were notably inferior in.
Excluding penalty shootouts, Portugal haven't beaten Spain in seven attempts and they come into this game as the underdogs. They have the players to be successful, but thus far they haven't performed to their potential as a collective.
Spain, conversely, appear to be growing into the tournament. La Roja are coming off the back of a thumping 3-0 win over Austria where they were comfortably the better side.
The game was one-sided from the first minute and they looked every bit the European champions that they are. Crucially, Lamine Yamal is looks to be approach full sharpness, with the winger tormenting Konrad Laimer all game.
Striker Mikel Oyarzabal also continued his impressive goalscoring record for the national team, bagging two goals against Austria, taking his tally for the tournament up to four. With 29 goals in 57 caps for Spain, the 29-year-old is an extremely reliable goalscorer.
Spain's underlying metrics are extremely convincing, with Luis De La Fuente's men conceding the lowest xG tally (0.9xG) while creating the second-most (8.1xG) of any team in the tournament.
Their form is also imperious as they enter this game unbeaten in 14 games. Even a Portugal side that look far from their best will be a major test for Spain, but this is a team not only with top-class players, but it's one with proven tournament pedigree having won the Euros only 24 months ago.
In what should be a highly entertaining game, with think Spain will get the job done inside the 90 minutes.
Spain 2-1 Portugal
