Saul Niguez Leads Spain Past Italy, into U21 European Championship Final

Spain booked their ticket to the 2017 Under-21 European Championship final on Tuesday, as Saul Niguez recorded a hat-trick in the 3-1 win over Italy. La Roja will face Germany in the final. 

Saul opened the scoring early in the second half, and Roberto Gagliardini was sent off shortly after for a second bookable offence. Federico Bernardeschi tied things up out of nowhere, but just minutes later, the Atletico Madrid man doubled his tally. He would add a third goal to secure his team's passage to the final with 15 minutes left to play.

Here's a look at the two teams, via Tuttomercatoweb:

Spain entered the match as favourites against the short-handed Italians―who were missing several key players, including Domenico Berardi, due to suspension―but the Azzurrini made the brighter start.

Federico Chiesa put goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to work after just a few minutes, while Gianluigi Donnarumma had to tip an inswinging corner over his bar.

La Roja recovered swiftly from Italy's blistering start, but they couldn't find many openings early. Marco Asensio's shot troubled Donnarumma more than it should have, but overall, the AC Milan man had little to do.

Andrea Petagna fired the best chance of the half into the feet of Arrizabalaga, and he really should have done better from close range.

Statman Dave loved the action:

The best chance of the half fell to Gerard Deulofeu, who continued his run after a failed free-kick and had all kinds of space, placing a volley wide. Sandro Ramirez also went close, but the Italians grabbed the late momentum, setting themselves up for the second half.

But while the Azzurrini started the second half on the front foot, the goal fell on the other end. Dani Ceballos beautifully played in Saul, who easily slotted the ball past Donnarumma.

Sportswriter Sid Lowe loved it:

And things got even worse for the Italians, as Gagliardini, already on a yellow card, brought down Ceballos and was rightly sent off. AS English's Robbie Dunne weighed in on the contest:

Spain prodded for a second goal but were caught napping when the Azzurrini took a free-kick quickly, and Bernardeschi's deflected shot gave Arrizabalaga no chance. 

But the Italian hope didn't last long. Before Spain could even make an attacking change, Saul fired a scorcher toward goal, and Donnarumma reacted too late. More from Lowe:

And the 22-year-old wasn't finished yet, completing his hat-trick a few minutes later with another lovely finish, this time off an assist from Asensio.

While Spain mustered a handful more chances, the pace of the match predictably dropped, with both teams eager to get things over with.