Man City's Spanish hero vs their three Lions: Spain vs England final preview

The final of the 2024 European Championship has arrived and for the two standing teams everything comes down to one remaining game; where either all their dreams will come true or they'll have to watch on as they slightly miss out.

The Euros final is only a few days away, and for Manchester City, they have four players who will participate in this big event. Their Spanish Champions League-winning hero Rodri could be the one that returns to the club with a winner's medal or, it could be their three-lions trio Phil Foden, Kyle Walker and John Stones who do so instead.

After a month of various fixtures, with a total of 24 teams starting the tournament, we now have our final two, who are ready to battle it out on Sunday for the trophy.

Both teams' journeys have been slightly different, you'd say. Spain, they started their campaign off with a statement and they've pretty much continued to prove themselves as heavy favourites to go on and claim the title, as for England, they've found themselves taking their time to even get properly started - they struggled in their group, had to go to extra time on both occasions before the semis, and during the quarter-finals had to confirm their win over a penalty shootout.

Let's take a look at the Euros finalists' journeys to the final.

England (Foden, Walker and Stones)

Group stage: 1-0 win vs Serbia, 1-1 with Denmark, 0-0 with Slovenia (First in group).

Last 16: A meeting with Slovakia was nothing short of dramatics; Slovakia had scored in the first half and continued to keep their scoreline to 1-0 until the 95th-minute mark when England's Jude Bellingham equalised in the last few seconds. They went to extra time and it didn't take long for England to get their noses in front as Harry Kane made it 2-1.

Quarter-final: Their next opponent was Switzerland, who had just seen off the current champions Italy with a 2-0 win. It took until the second half for the first goal to arrive, and it came for the Swiss. But, this time, it didn't take England too long to match the score as Bukayo Saka made it 1-1.

The two teams settled the winner on penalties, as England won 5-4 to book their spot in the semi-final.

Semi-Final: Only seven minutes in and Nathan Ake's Netherlands made it 1-0 after an incredible strike from Xavi Simons. A penalty incident led England to bring themselves back into the game. It looked as if the three Lions were going to go to extra time for the third game in a row, but Ollie Watkins had other ideas and scored in the 91st minute to achieve a 2-1 victory.

Now, after a tournament that's seen a lot of unease and required a lot of fight from this England squad, will they be able to go the extra step against Spain?

Spain (Rodri)

Group stage: 3-0 win vs Croatia, 1-0 win vs Italy and 1-0 vs Albania (First in the group)

Last 16: The Spaniards took on Georiga, who surprisingly qualified from their group after a 2-0 win over Portugal. Spain found themselves a goal down very quickly, as Georiga took a fast lead. But, the lead didn't last as long as they'd have hoped as Rodri's shot from distance made it 1-1 going into halftime. The next 45 minutes saw Spain find three more goals to add to the scoreline, as Fabian Ruiz, Dani Olmo and Williams joined Rodri on the scoresheet.

Quarter-final: This time, La Roja met the hosts of the competition Germany, which was expected to be a very tense and exciting encounter. The first half remained goalless, and it was the second half the deadlock was broken as Dani Olmo found the back of the net giving Spain a 1-0 win. It seemed as if the Spanish had done the job as the 90th minute approached, but Florian Wirtz gave Germany a lifeline and made it 1-1 with extra time to come. 30 minutes of extra time were almost complete, and it was certain that this result would be decided on penalties. But, Spain were clearly not a fan of that scenario, as Mikel Merino scored the winning goal to push Spain into the semi-final, in a nerve-racking style.

Semi-final: for a place in the final, Spain would need to overcome France, and while the French haven't performed to their expected standards by any means, they've proven they can't be ruled out at this point in any tournament. The first goal came only seven minutes in, and it was Randal Kolo Muani who put France ahead, much to their delight but the opposite for Spain. But, the whole game turned around after the 20th minute, as Lamine Yamal's absolute wonder strike equalised the score line, and then only a few minutes after, Dani Olmo made it 2-1. The match ended in that score line, giving Spain a ticket to the final.

Spain have been proving themselves in every single game in the lead-up to this final, but will they be able to continue their run and surpass England?

Man City Square Prediction:

Spain 2-1 England

The final of the Euros takes place on Sunday, the 14th of July at 20:00 (UK).