{"id":288965,"date":"2025-07-24T21:58:13","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T21:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/288965\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T21:58:13","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T21:58:13","slug":"five-things-we-learnt-from-spains-late-win-over-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/288965\/","title":{"rendered":"Five things we learnt from Spain\u2019s late win over Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

A nail-biting UEFA Women\u2019s Euro 2025 semi-final saw Aitana Bonmat\u00ed score a late stunner in extra time, sending la Roja into their first-ever European final and bringing Germany\u2019s tournament to an end.<\/p>\n

Going into the game, Spain were considered to be the favourites and the pressure was on for the defending world champions, who were yet lost a game this tournament. That pressure shone through in their nervous performance \u2014 Spain lacked composure in front of goal.<\/p>\n

Neither side managed to score within regulation time and while it seemed that the momentum favoured Germany, that alone wasn\u2019t enough to send them through to the final. A defensive slip-up in the 113th minute facilitated Aitana Bonmat\u00ed\u2019s winning goal, setting up a repeat of the 2023 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup final against England.<\/p>\n

A world-class goal from a world-class player<\/p>\n

Two-time Ballon d\u2019Or winner, Aitana Bonmat\u00ed showed up exactly when it mattered. The game looked as though it was set for penalties, with neither side having managed to find the back of the net after 110 minutes of play. However, with excellent timing and execution, Athenea del Castillo found Bonmat\u00ed in space in a dangerous area, setting up her chance to strike off the right foot and narrowly slip her strike past Ann-Katrin Berger to score the winning goal. It was the kind of play we have come to expect of Spain this tournament, and late is better than never.<\/p>\n

Spain looked uncomfortable and lacked composure most of the game<\/p>\n

La Roja had been going from strength to strength throughout this tournament, scoring more goals than any other team and dominating play through possession. Their on-ball strategy had seen them through the tournament so far, but in Germany they found a challenger. Despite dictating the tempo, Spain struggled to break past the German defensive line. As the game progressed, Tom\u00e9\u2019s side looked agitated compared to the more disciplined and controlled Frauenteam. As the game approached extra time, it was anyone\u2019s guess who would go through to the final. Although Spain ultimately prevailed, the cracks in the wall were showing. It sets up an interesting match for the the Lionesses\u2019 on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Heroics between the sticks<\/p>\n

As the clock ran down to the end of regulation time, it was a tournament first \u2014 a goalless game after 90 minutes. Although there was much to be said for missed opportunities at both ends, credit goes to the goalkeepers for holding the line. Ann-Katrin Berger made 8 critical saves over the course of the game including a double at the 45th minute that left a smile on her face. Though rarely called into action over the course of the tournament so far, Cata Coll showed her class in the final moments of regulation time. A double save against Klara B\u00fchl and Carlotta Wamser in the last ten seconds of stoppage time saved Spain from devastation. Both Berger and Coll were critical until the final whistle, and whilst it was Spain who advanced, both players delivered performances worthy of the highest stage.<\/p>\n

Germany will threaten again at future tournaments<\/p>\n

Christian W\u00fcck\u2019s side have been tested more than most this tournament. Reshuffles and injuries have forced the team to constantly adapt to new positions. Losing captain Giulia Gwinn to a knee injury in the first game of the group stage \u2013 and then facing suspensions and other injuries \u2013 stretched the team. Nonetheless, their resilience under these circumstances gave them a fiery resolve that made them a challenging opponent in the knock-out stages. Almost their entire final group stage fixture and quarter-final match were played with ten women \u2014 tough preparation for their match against the highly-skilled Spanish team. Germany\u2019s future is bright, with the best of many of their young players yet to reach their peaks.<\/p>\n

Spain\u2019s performance will leave England hopeful<\/p>\n

With all eyes on Basel, England will meet Spain at St Jakob-Park this Sunday [17:00 BST, 18:00 CEST] in a rematch of the 2023 FIFA Women\u2019s World Cup final. The Lionesses clawed their way into the final with a late penalty from Chloe Kelly scored in the final two minutes of extra time. They will have watched every second of Wednesday\u2019s game and seen exactly what we have \u2014 Spain are not unbeatable. If Sarina Wiegman\u2019s side can exploit Spain\u2019s weaknesses and unnerve them as Germany did, they have a strong chance of successfully defending their Euros title on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00c0 propos de Publisher<\/a>Partage cet article\"string\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A nail-biting UEFA Women\u2019s Euro 2025 semi-final saw Aitana Bonmat\u00ed score a late stunner in extra time, sending…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":288966,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5312],"tags":[2000,299,104],"class_list":{"0":"post-288965","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-spain","8":"tag-eu","9":"tag-europe","10":"tag-spain"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114910455654434285","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288965"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288965\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/288966"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}