The biggest Barcelona contingent in Euro 2024 is still alive as Lamine Yamal, Pedri, Ferran Torres and Fermín López will represent Spain in the semi-finals after a legendary 2-1 win over Germany in Friday’s quarter-final in Sttutgart. Pedri went off hurt early, Yamal was definitive throughout his hour-long cameo, and Ilkay Gündogan and Marc-André ter Stegen have actually been gotten rid of on home soil in the Last Eight after a remarkable 120-minute clash in between 2 European giants who provided us a knockout match for the ages.

The video game began with terrible news for Spain and Barcelona as Pedri was required off with an evident knee injury after suffering a rough take on from Toni Kroos that triggered the Blaugrana magician to exit after simply 7 minutes and be changed by Dani Olmo. Kroos’ deal with on Pedri set the tone for an extremely physical very first half in Stuttgart, with both groups providing hard obstacles and many yellow cards coming out of Anthony Taylor’s pocket.

No genuine possibilities were produced by either side, and this seemed like a heavyweight clash at a significant competition where the 2 groups were more thinking about not yielding than taking threats in attempting to rating, and the match was goalless and in alarming requirement of more home entertainment in the 2nd half.

La Roja didn’t take too long to bring the video game to life in the 2nd half thanks to Lamine Yamal: the Barça teenager got the ball with time and area on the extreme right and played a beautiful go through the middle to discover the run of Olmo, who passed the ball into the bottom corner to put Spain in front simply 5 minutes into the last duration.

After making 2 modifications at halftime, Julian Nageslmann made 2 more near the hour mark that included Ilkay Gündogan’s exit from the video game after a peaceful night, and the Germans ended up being a lot more aggressive with and without the ball to attempt and get an equalizer while Spain were comfy not having belongings and searching for a 2nd on the counter.

Yamal was changed after an hour by another Barça man in Ferran Torres to include fresh legs and a more protective winger as La Roja gotten ready for Germany’s late pressure, which pressure did come as the hosts fired lots of crosses and shots however — apart from a Niclas Füllkrug effort versus the post — never ever rather handled to really problem Unai Simón as we reached the last 15 minutes.

Luis de la Fuente made 2 defensive-minded modifications to enhance his midfield and include more speed in advance for the last 10 minutes, and Spain’s strategy was clear: secure their one-goal lead and wish to eliminate the video game on the counter. But Germany never ever quit, and their work was rewarded at the death when a cross from the left was up to Florian Wirtz and the Bundesliga Player of the Season fired it home off the post to adjust in the 89th minute and send out the tie to additional time.

The initially 15 minutes of the extra duration were as cagey as anticipated with neither side too excited to move forward and run the risk of leaving areas at the back, however there were still a number of possibilities as Mikel Oyarzabal and Wirtz both saw their shots go agonizingly broad. Both sides were relatively betting charges, however with a minute to go came a remarkable twist: Mikel Merino headed home a cross from Olmo, and out of no place Spain took the lead with practically no time at all left on the clock.

Germany attempted whatever they might to get another late equalizer and Füllkrug missed out on a wide-open header right at the death, and the last whistle concerned send out Spain to Munich and remove the hosts in a quarter-final for the ages.

After a sluggish start these 2 heavyweights provided an incredible surface, and La Roja now wait for the winner of France vs Portugal in a smash hit semi-final. What a video game, and Spain’s remarkable month in Germany continues.