Luis Enrique surprisingly dropped Alvaro Morata for Spain’s Euro 2020 semi-final against Italy (Picture: Getty)Luis Enrique explained Romelu Lukaku’s inability to make an impact against Italy’s renowned defence played a key role in his decision to drop Alvaro Morata ahead of Tuesday’s Euro 2020 semi-final. The former Chelsea striker had endured a mixed tournament, but his omission from the starting line-up raised eyebrows before the game with Enrique opting to deploy Dani Olmo in a false nine position. Morata duly equalised with 10 minutes remaining and gave his Juventus teammates a difficult evening, before proving to be the fall guy in the shootout, missing the crucial penalty. Alvaro Morata came on as s second-half substitute and scored Spain’s equaliser against Italy (Picture: Getty)Still, Spain were unmistakably a more potent threat with their leading striker on the pitch but Enrique insisted he did not regret the decision having watched Lukaku toil in Belgium’s quarter final defeat. ‘Italy started with extraordinary intensity, so did we, it was like two sportscars racing each other, head-to-head, and some of the best football we’ve seen in the Euros.

Source: Metro July 06, 2021 23:03 UTC