Spain U-21 – Ukraine U-21

Second meeting in the tournament will see fewer goals

Before the opening whistles of the first leg of the group stage matches, bookmakers agreed that the Spaniards were favourites to win the UEFA EURO 2023 youth tournament, with the odds pegged at 5.00 to win the title. The Ukrainian team was placed in the second half of the list of contenders with an odds of around 20.0. Nevertheless, the group stage and the first leg of the play-offs showed that both teams were equally worthy of such a high stage as the semi-finals. The Spaniards and Ukrainians jointly emerged from Group B, where they had almost identical results after three rounds. In the semi-finals, bookmakers said the five-time continental champions were favourites, offering odds of 1.34 to see the Spaniards through. Spain made their way to the tournament through qualifying group C, where they only lost a match to Russia. However, after the Russian squad's disqualification, the Spaniards' record is 100 percent, with eight wins in eight meetings and 37 goals scored. At UEFA EURO, the Red Hockey Federation got off to a flying start with a 3-0 win over Romania. The Spanish were so dominant against the home side that a modest 1-0 win over Croatia in the second leg, with a first-minute goal, caused some consternation. The first head-to-head encounter with Ukraine at this year's UEFA Women's EURO took place when both teams had secured play-off berths. In it, the Yellow and Blue took the lead twice, but twice the five-time champion managed to get back into the game. A 2-2 draw allowed the Spaniards to qualify for the play-offs from first place thanks to a better goal difference by just one goal. In the quarter-final, Spain had to hold on to their lead against Switzerland, but unlike their contest with Croatia, they conceded a goal in the second half and had to make up ground in extra time. Ukraine defeated Croatia and Romania 3-0 in the opening rounds of the group stage, and in the first round of the play-offs they beat the most expensive side in the competition, France. Despite the fact that the first leg ended 2-2, it was held in the absence of serious competition. The semi-final meeting will be completely different in terms of content and number of goals.