Luis de la Fuente on Spain’s Euro 2024 match-up against Georgia – “We will have to be careful” | OneFootball

On Wednesday, the Euro 2024 group stages come to a conclusion, which also revealed the match-ups for the round of 16. Spain will be taking on Georgia, who booked their place in the knockouts with a famous 2-0 victory over Portugal.

After Spain’s knockout stage route was known, head coach Luis de la Fuente reacted to the upcoming Georgia tie on the national team’s media channels.

“We have maximum respect for them. They are a team that is having a great tournament, that has defeated Portugal; and that, due to the experience we have, we have seen that they have been improving and progressing in their performance. We will have to give our best version to have a chance of going through.

“We have seen that they have changed the system somewhat, but not the idea they have, with players who come out very quickly in transitions. We will have to be very careful. The experience of having played matches and the security of having qualified, with the motivation that comes from beating Portugal, make them more dangerous. They, thanks to that trajectory, will have security. We, too, with ours.

“We have to reaffirm our path, our idea, and continue to grow. In our heads, our hearts and our legs are continuing to improve. Our players understand that. If we want to go far, the improvement must be constant.”

Spain and de la Fuente will be aware that they are coming up against a very confident Georgia side, although it’s worth noting that La Roja defeated the Easter Europeans 1-7 and 3-1 respectively in their Euro 2024 qualifiers, which could provide a psychological edge on Sunday in Cologne.