Euro-2021: Spain overcomes a heroic Switzerland and climbs to the semi-finals<

End of course for the Swiss who will have honored their colors and their supporters in this Euro-2021. Quarter-finalist for the first time in its history, the "Nati" will not go further. In pain, Spain put an end to the adventure of Vladimir Petkovic and his men in Saint Petersburg, Friday July 2 (1-1, 3 shots on goal to 1).

After their attacking fireworks in the round of 16, the two selections did not put as much intensity in the Gazprom Arena. With their game based on ball possession and thanks to high pressing, Spain unblocked the situation very quickly.

Spain has struck

Substitute against the Croats, Jordi Alba has regained a place in the starting lineup. And he proved coach Luis Enrique right by provoking the opener. On the first corner of the match, the ball returned to the Barcelonan at the entrance to the penalty area. His recovery was diverted by Denis Zakaria into his own net (8th).

Without the suspended Granit Xhaka, Switzerland suffered badly in the first quarter of an hour, running to just 23% possession at the height of Spanish dominance. But Spain gradually eased off, offering a cocktail of ineffective possession and an inability to frame their timid shots.

Shaqiri punishes the Iberian defense

In the second half, the lack of Spanish control was accentuated as the minutes went by. And what hung in the nose of the Iberians happened. The defense made a mistake and Switzerland took advantage. Laporte thought he was averting the danger. But Pau Torres countered his clearance and returned the ball full axis. A boon for Remo Freuler, who was able to pass on to Xherdan Shaqiri. The Liverpool player, captain of the day in the absence of Xhaka, was quick to slip the ball out of reach of Unai Simon (68th).

The Swiss momentum, which won France on Monday, was interrupted by the direct red card addressed to Freuler, author of an uncontrolled tackle (77th). In numerical inferiority, the deal got complicated for the Helvetians against a Spain stammering its football. As in the round of 16, these two teams did not escape extra time.

Heroic Sommer

Cooler and eleven against ten, Spain besieged the surface of Switzerland for the 30 minutes of extra time. Countless times, Switzerland looked on the verge of cracking in the face of an avalanche of strikes on the cage. Only here, in the center of this cage, there was Yann Sommer. The man who had repelled Kylian Mbappé's shot on goal once again put on his hero costume to disgust the Spanish attackers one by one. Moreno from close range, Oyarzabal and his curling shots, Busquets with a header… In total, La Roja struck 17 times on goal in 30 minutes. A real deluge on the Swiss defense! And Sommer blocked everything, deflected everything, pushed everything back.

The inevitable penalty shoot-out began. Sommer, again, signed two parades. Opposite, Simon did the same. And then, Vargas took off his shot too much. Oyarzabal, he did not tremble on the decisive shot. At the end of the end, Switzerland fell, standing, against Spain.

Find the follow-up of the meeting via our liveblog: