Spain recorded a comfortable victory against Croatia, even though Luis De La Fuente’s men had to do it with less possession than the opposition, something that had not happened in a long time. Italy, meanwhile, edged past Albania in a match where all the goals were scored before the 20th minute mark.
Croatia went toe-to-toe with Spain, but the Spaniards were just better finishers on the day. In fact, Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon faced the same number of shots as his opposite number, but were he saved all five, Croatia’s Dominik Livakovic saved just 2/5.
Alvaro Morata found the net in the 29th minute to put Spain ahead, and Fabian Ruiz doubled the lead in the 32nd minute.
Dani Carvajal ended the scoring two minutes into half time added time, making it an insurmountable problem for Croatia and ending their hopes of a comeback.
In the second Group B clash, Italy went behind in the first minute through Nedim Bajrami’s goal, but Alessandro Bastoni levelled the game in the 11th minute.
Nicolo Barella then put Italy ahead in the 16th minute.
Italy got many more chances, but converted none of them.
The results leave Spain top of Group B, with Italy second, Albania third, and Croatia bottom.
