Spain vs. Macedonia: Date, Time, Live Stream, TV Info and Preview
Failing to defend their World Cup title with much of a fight, Spain begin their bid to retain the European Championship on Monday as their qualification for Euro 2016 starts with the visit of Macedonia.
The Euro 2012 victors saw their dreams of a fourth consecutive major international trophy crushed at the group stage of this year's World Cup but are now looking to put that hurt firmly in the past.
Macedonia will be far from the most difficult task Vicente del Bosque's men encounter in Group C, but a long, winding qualifying campaign lies ahead, with more upsets potentially getting their start this week.
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Date: Monday, September 8
Time: 7:45 p.m. BST/2:45 p.m. ET
Live Stream: Sky Go (UK, subscription required), ESPN Watch (US)
TV Info: Sky Sports 5 (UK), ESPN Deportes (US)
Form Guide
No matter how difficult to believe, Macedonia actually come into Monday's meeting as the in-form outfit as far as pure results go, having lost two, drawn two and won one of their past five.
Spain, on the other hand, have lost three fixtures in that same time frame, and last week's 1-0 friendly defeat to France was the latest realisation times may be changing for La Furia Roja.
The new wave of players is confirmed by the inclusion of Barcelona's Munir, who Spanish newspaper SPORT confirm as a call-up to Del Bosque's squad, despite only making his first start for La Blaugrana earlier this season:
Prior to the World Cup, the Spanish had lost just twice since November 2011, but sides aren't as daunted by their threat anymore, as the Netherlands and Chile showed at the World Cup, putting a combined seven goals past Del Bosque's men.
The Macedonians' major area of improvement, however, comes in attack, having scored in just one of their five 2014 fixtures, going the last four outings without finding the back of the net.
Key Battle
Dani Carvajal vs. Agim Ibraimi
Among all of the negative talking points to come from Spain's recent loss against Les Bleus, Dani Carvajal stood out as one of the more positive thanks to a fine display in Paris.
ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan says the debutant will cement his place in Del Bosque's XI, quoting the coach on his review of the defender's most recent outing:
Coming up against Carvajal on Monday, though, is one of the few Macedonian players one can say boasts a genuine threat to the hosts: Agim Ibraimi the national team's current top scorer in Bosko Gjurovski's ranks, with six goals to his name.
The Maribor winger is also the third-most experienced Macedonia player in Monday's squad, hoping to make Carvajal's evening a difficult one.
Carvajal will seek to assert his usual service in attack, but securing his own borders first should sit as a priority, with his opposite man likely to serve up decent ball if allowed time and space.
