Santi Denia leads Spain's U-21 team into the opening match of Euro 2025 against host nation Slovakia on June 11 in Bratislava. The Spanish coach, who guided "La Rojita" to Olympic gold in Paris last year, faces a tricky first test against the motivated hosts.
"We understand the challenge of playing the opening match against the host nation, but this team has proven its quality in major tournaments," Denia might say about the upcoming fixture.
The match kicks off at 19:00 local time at Tegelne pole stadium, marking the beginning of the prestigious youth tournament. Spain enters as one of the main favorites alongside Germany, boasting five European championships at this level - tied with Italy for the most titles in history.
For Slovakia, coached by Jaroslav Kentosh since January 2020, this represents just their third-ever appearance in the U-21 European Championship and second as hosts. Their previous home tournament in 2000 saw them finish fourth after losing the third-place match to... Spain.
Interestingly, Slovakia defeated Spain 2-0 in a friendly match in March 2024, but recent form tells a different story. The hosts haven't won a match since October last year, while drawing with the Netherlands (3:3) and Slovenia (2:2), and losing to Portugal (1:3), Germany (0:1), and France (0:4) in their preparation games.
Spain's squad will be missing talented winger Jeremaj due to injury, with Aston Villa's Andres Garcia called up as his replacement. Several notable Spanish talents were also left out of the final roster, including Pablo Barrios from "Atletico Madrid" and Barcelona prospects Pau Cubarsi and Fermin Lopez.
The Spanish team dominated their qualifying group with nine wins and one draw, scoring 27 goals while conceding just four. However, their 2025 form has been concerning - they've yet to win this year, drawing with the Czech Republic (2:2) and suffering defeats to Germany (1:3) and Ukraine (0:1) in recent friendlies.
Historically, Spain has dominated this fixture, winning seven of eight previous official meetings between the teams at this age level. But will home advantage help Slovakia spring a surprise in the tournament opener? The odds certainly favor the Spaniards, but tournament opening matches often produce unexpected results.
The Group A clash promises to be an intriguing start to the competition, with both teams keen to make an early statement in a group that also includes five-time champions Italy.
