Scotland 2-0 Spain Analysis: How the Killie conquistador conquered the competition
El clase magistral táctica – the tactical masterclass. Steve Clarke outwitted the custodians of the beautiful game in a show of endeavour, organisation, and above all else, quality.
It is fair to say the team ranked tenth in the world played a weakened starting 11 in Glasgow, but they were still a classy outfit with star-power on the bench and the pitch. So, how did Scotland topple a team who’ve only lost seven of their last 146 qualifiers?
The Spanish imposed themselves on the game in their usual way, controlling possession and shifting the ball from side-to-side in a methodical manner. However, this was not in the tiki-taka style of the Xavi and Iniesta era. Of Spain’s 661 accurate passes, none of them led to big chances (Sofascore). Whereas, Scotland – with a third of the passes – looked much more dangerous, especially on the counter-attack.
This was reflected by Spain’s lack of counter-attacks and big chances. The Scots were most potent on the counter, creating four chances from as many attacks. John McGinn and Ryan Christie looked to pounce on high positioning from the Spanish fullbacks and overload the Spanish defence in transition whilst Aaron Hickey and Andrew Robertson were left to deal with the wingers and full-backs.
It is clear in the average positions that the wing-backs were tasked with sitting a bit deeper and combatting Spain’s congested wide area, epitomised by the second goal. Five-time Champions League winner Dani Carvajal was ambushed by the dynamic duo of Kieran Tierney and Robertson, who harried the Madridsta to win possession of the ball leaving acres of space for the Arsenal man to drive into and set up Scott McTominay’s second.
Speaking of McTominay, Scott the Scot played a pivotal part in the result with his two goals. From the average positions the Manchester United man looked to have been instructed to get as high as possible. Clearly, this was an inspired tactical tweak from Clarke, with the midfielder sitting fourth in the qualifying scoring charts, behind the Danish Rasmus Højlund on five.
The average positions show that Scotland were forced deeper by Spain – which is understandable considering how technically secure the entire team is. However, one player stands out for his isolation and similar positioning to the Cyprus game, and it’s not Scott McTominay.
Callum McGregor was imperious in both internationals, but showed just how classy he is against a cultured Spain midfield. Despite being isolated, the Celtic captain was involved in everything and didn’t look exposed despite having a large portion of the pitch to cover himself.
McGregor was the metronome for Scotland’s Symphony, keeping things ticking over for the side – shown by him completing all 18 of his passes, having an 100% dribble success rate, and having the join-most key passes along with the skipper. To top it all off, he showed great composure in the dying embers of the game to carry the ball out of pressure, evade Barcelona youngster Gavi who looked to put in a cynical slide-tackle, and slip in Lawrence Shankland for another counter-attack chance.
Looking ahead, two crunch ties against resurgent Norway and Georgia sides will show just how far this Scotland side can go. If Grant Hanley and co. can shackle Erling Haaland, Germany 2024 may be just a little bit closer.
