Morata jeered as wasteful Spain annoyed by Sweden
Spain's new team struggled with the familiar problems on Monday as a string of missed chances allowed Sweden to hold on for a goalless attract their Euro 2020 opener in Seville.
Alvaro Morata wasted the very best opportunity of a dominant first half, where Spain churned out 419 passes, the almost all of any team on record in the opening 45 minutes of a European Championship fixture.
Morata was whistled by his own fans when substituted with 25 minutes left, with Luis Enrique now facing questions over his decision to leave out Gerard Moreno, the Villarreal striker who scored 23 goals last season.
Spain lost their rhythm following the interval and Sweden may have won it, the excellent Alexander Isak hitting the post before his strike partner Marcus Berg missed a sitter from two yards out.
"They made a decision to defend, defend and defend. It had been an extremely unfair result," said Luis Enrique, who also complained about the pitch. "The players struggled to control the ball," he said.
A goalless draw leaves Spain playing catch-up in Group E after Slovakia earlier pulled off a shock 2-1 victory over Poland, raising the stakes for the overall game between Spain and Poland on Saturday, whenever a loser will be left struggling to qualify.
Another failure to convert possession into chances was similar to recent disappointments for Spain, especially when they were annoyed by Russia at the 2018 World Cup, prior to going out on penalties.
In the wake of that defeat, Luis Enrique was tasked with launching a fresh era as coach, a project that involved promoting a brand new crop of players but also a far more direct, penetrative style.
His team were impressive in the first half, a far cry from a number of the ponderous passing displays that made Spain look out of date in recent major tournaments.
However the second half drifted, perhaps through a lack of confidence and even sharpness, given the team were not able to teach together for most of the other day, separated according to protocol after Sergio Busquets, still absent, and Diego Llorente tested positive for Covid-19.
Sweden coach Janne Andersson, meanwhile, promised on Sunday his team would "run like hell" plus they not merely defended resolutely but carved out arguably both best likelihood of the match.
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Isak, the 21-year-old, who scored 17 goals for Real Sociedad last season, showed why he's the most rated young strikers in Europe and Spain would have been relieved when Andersson took him off with 20 minutes left.
"It wasn't raining chances despite the fact that they had a whole lot of possession," said Andersson. "We're able to have lost the game, we could likewise have won it."
The Spanish host city was switched to Seville after Bilbao was struggling to guarantee UEFA's desired number of fans and with 12,517 supporters inside La Cartuja, the atmosphere was as warm as the elements, with the temperature over 30 degrees Celsius.
Kick-off was briefly delayed while one of the nets was fixed and on the sideline Luis Enrique sat perched on the edge of an ice-box.
His team swarmed around Sweden in the opening ten minutes, accumulating 100 passes to their opponents' 13.
Twenty minutes was up before Sweden found a foothold in Spain's half, a throw-in up the pitch prompting Andersson to leap off the bench and applaud.
But Spain kept passing and the probabilities kept coming, Koke steering wide after another tired Sweden touch in the region and ballooning over after he met Jordi Alba's ball in.
The very best opportunity though fell to Morata, the ball finding him in the box after Marcus Danielsson failed to clear Alba's clip, but with the target gaping he curled his finish wide.
Already, Spain appeared to feel the weight of their misses and Sweden almost landed a sucker-punch, Isak's finish diverted by Marcos Llorente onto his own post.
The game drifted after the break and Spain faded, their earlier urgency fizzling into something much less convincing. Sweden must have taken the lead as Isak twisted and turned in the box, making enough room to drag a ball to the trunk post where somehow Berg didn't score.
Both teams made changes going back 20 minutes, included in this Isak going off for Sweden and Morata departing for Spain, replaced by Moreno.
Spain surged in the final minutes and Moreno almost grabbed successful, his flicked header flying towards goal but kept out by the proper foot of Robin Olsen, who intervened again in injury time to deny Pablo Sarabia.
