Spain: Kepa; Bellerín, Jorge Meré, Jesús Vallejo, Gayá; Saúl Ñíguez, Marcos Llorente, Denis Suárez; Deulofeu (Dani Ceballos 63’), Sandro (Iñaki Williams 74’), Marco Asensio (Oyarzábal 81’). 4-3-3.
Macedonia: Aleksovski; Bejtulai, Zajkov, Velkoski, Demiri; Nikolov, Bardi; Radeski, Babunski (Kostadinov 76’), Markoski (Gjorgjev 46’); Angelov (Elmas 46’). 4-2-3-1.
Goals:
1-0. 10. Saúl. Acrobatic overhead kick past Aleksovski from Gayà centre.
2-0. 16. Asensio. Picked up ball outside area and struck shot over keeper.
3-0. 35. Deulofeu (penalty). After Bejtulai blocked Gayà cross with his arm.
4-0. 54. Asensio. Controlled Llorente pass and angled shot across Aleksovski.
5-0. 72. Asensio. Collected ball in own half and ran on to shoot past keeper.
Yellow cards: Jorge Meré 02’.
Spain’s under 21 side began the European Championship with a resounding 5-0 victory over Macedonia. Saúl Ñíguez started things off early on with a spectacular overhead kick, and Marco Alonso added a second with a long shot after Deulofeu’s effort was blocked soon afterwards. Kepa still had a couple of saves to make, but shortly before half time Deulofeu made it three from the penalty spot (a record 17 th for his country at this level) after Bejtulai handled in the area, and Asensio added a fourth some ten minutes in to the second half. Ex Barcelona forward Babunski hit the bar at the other end, but with twenty minutes to go Asensio ran through from his own half to complete a hat-trick and take the Man of the Match award. Spain now go on to play Portugal, who also won their opening game.