Spain vs. Turkey: Live Stream, Odds and Form Guide for Euro 2016
Spain will be hoping to build on their winning start to UEFA Euro 2016 on Friday when they take on Turkey in Nice, France.
La Roja edged out the Czech Republic 1-0 in their opener after Gerard Pique headed home a late winner, while Turkey suffered a defeat to Croatia by the same scoreline thanks to Luka Modric's stunning strike.
It's all still to play for in Group D, so check out the latest odds for the match, viewing details and a form guide for both sides.
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Date: Friday, June 17
Time: 8 p.m. BST, 3 p.m. ET
TV: ITV 1 (UK), ESPN3 (U.S.)
Live Stream: ITV Player (UK), Watch ESPN (U.S.)
| Spain win | 4-9 |
| Draw | 15-4 |
| Turkey win | 9-1 |
| W vs. Czech Republic (1-0) | L vs. Croatia (1-0) |
| L vs. Georgia (1-0) | W vs. Slovenia (1-0) |
| W vs. South Korea (6-1) | W vs. Montenegro (1-0) |
| W vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina (3-1) | L vs. England (2-1) |
Odds courtesy of Oddschecker.
Preview
Spain needed Pique's late goal to beat the Czechs, but they were overwhelmingly the better side and more than deserved their win as they dominated both possession and chances.
As ever, midfield maestro Andres Iniesta was the key to unlocking their defence, pulling the strings in the centre and delivering the inch-perfect cross for Pique to finish in the 87th minute.
Squawka Football supplied the numbers behind his majestic performance:
It's fair to say that Spanish daily newspaper AS was impressed with his showing:
So too were football journalists Rafael Hernandez and David Cartlidge:
Against Turkey, the game is likely to follow a similar pattern—Spain controlling much of the ball, with the opposition largely restricted to chances on the break.
Iniesta's vision and creativity will be needed once more. "There's not a single solution to breaking down these teams," he said, per BBC Sport's Mandeep Sanghera. "You have to keep pressing forward until you get what you want. The goal came the way it came—it just takes patience."
What's more, unlike the Czech Republic, Turkey don't have Petr Cech in goal, so in theory it will be easier to find the back of the net.
Spain will still need to work on their finishing, though—Nolito, Alvaro Morata and Aritz Aduriz all failed to significantly trouble their opponents' goal.
As for Turkey, though they may have only been separated by a world-class volley, they were firmly outplayed by Croatia in their opener.
Bleacher Report UK's Sam Tighe was unimpressed:
Indeed, Arda Turan and Hakan Calhanoglu—arguably their two best players—disappointed, and they will need to seriously improve on their respective performances if they're to trouble Spain.
Per TRT (h/t Goal), Turan apologised for his poor showing: "First of all I have to apologise because of my poor performance today. I think I played bad."
He added: "The tournament isn't finished yet. But we have to pull ourselves together after this defeat. I hope we can perform better in Nice against Spain. We won't give up. We are in a tough group."
With two strong sides still to come for Fatih Terim's men, their chances of making it out of the group are in serious jeopardy.
The team did well to reach the tournament after a disastrous start to their qualifying campaign, and they'll need to show that same spirit if they're to avoid an exit at the first hurdle.
