Spain v Ukraine background
Monday, February 2, 2015
Article summary
Spain will look to extend their winning streak in UEFA EURO 2016 Group C as they take on Ukraine – a side they have beaten in their last two encounters.
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Spain will look to record a third competitive victory against Ukraine when the sides meet in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group C, though the visitors have been in mean form of late.
Previous meetings
• Spain's record in three competitive senior meetings with Ukraine is W2 D1 L0.
• They won their only previous home game against Ukraine, Iñaki Saéz's side beating Leonid Buryak's Ukraine 2-1 in Elche in a UEFA EURO 2004 qualifier on 10 September 2003.
• The teams for that game were:
Spain: Casillas*, Salgado, Juanito, Marchena, Puyol, Xabi Alonso, Raúl, Baraja (Xavi 84), Torres (Reyes 63), Vicente Rodríguez (Valerón 63), Etxeberria.
Ukraine: Shovkovskiy, Luzhny, Fedorov, Tymoshchuk*, Nesmachniy, Dmytrulin (Zubov 63), Shevchenko, Popov (Serebrennikov 18), Gorshkov, Voronin (Gusev* 51), Vorobey.
• More recently, Luis Aragonés's Spain beat Oleh Blokhin's Ukraine 4-0 in Leipzig during the 2006 FIFA World Cup finals group stage on 14 June 2006.
• The teams for that game were:
Spain: Casillas*, Pernía, Puyol, Xavi, Torres, Luis García (Fàbregas* 77), Xabi Alonso (Albelda 55), Ramos*, Senna, Villa (Raúl 55), Pablo.
Ukraine: Shovkovskiy, Nesmachniy, Tymoshchuk*, Yezerskiy, Rusol, Shevchenko, Gusev (Shelayev 46), Voronin, Gusin (Vorobey 46), Vashchuk, Rotan* (Rebrov 64).
*have been selected for UEFA EURO 2016 games.
Form guide
• Spain have won both their Group C matches – scoring seven without conceding – since their shock 2-1 defeat away to Slovakia in their second outing in the section.
• Spain are unbeaten in 29 competitive games on home soil (W25 D4) since a 1-0 loss to Greece in Zaragoza in a UEFA EURO 2004 qualifier on 7 June 2003. That run includes 14 consecutive wins in UEFA European Championship qualifying contests on Spanish soil.
• Ukraine have won their last three Group C fixtures without conceding (including two away) since succumbing 1-0 at home to Slovakia in their opening fixture.
Trivia and links
• This is Ukraine's 50th UEFA European Championship game; their previous 49 have ended W20 D13 L16.
• Spain have had the better of the nations' ten meetings in UEFA age-group competitions: W7 D3 L0.
• The record of Spanish teams against their Ukrainian counterparts in UEFA competition is W26 D16 L9. Most recently, Athletic Club drew 0-0 at home and won 1-0 away against FC Shakhtar Donetsk in this season's UEFA Champions League group stage.
