Chelsea are guaranteed to have at least one happy player after Sunday’s Euro 2024 final.
Blues defender Marc Cucurella has been an important figure this tournament for finalists Spain. In fact, he’s started all but one game en route to the final.
In the opposite corner, Chelsea duo Cole Palmer and Conor Gallagher represent England. Unfortunately, neither are regular starters for their country, with Palmer yet to actually start at the Euros.
During a pre-match interview with Mundo Deportivo, Cucurella admitted he’ll be happier if club teammate Palmer is on the bench in the final.
Based off what we’ve seen from England boss Gareth Southgate in this tournament, Spain left-back Cucurella is most likely to be in direct opposition with Bukayo Saka.
Chris Sutton suggests England can target Marc Cucurella
BBC pundit Chris Sutton feels like England’s best chance to get at Spain in the final is down one of the wings.
He reckons that Saka could pose for a threat to Cucurella. The Arsenal right-winger does have experience playing against the Chelsea full-back.
Sutton told BBC Sport: “England’s best chance is probably if they can get Saka one-on-one with Marc Cucurella – Spain’s left-back – because he can cause him all sorts of problems.
“That’s not because I think Cucurella is a poor player, by the way, more because I don’t see any weaknesses in any other areas of the Spain team.”
While we agree that Saka has the tools to hurt Cucurella in wide areas, don’t underestimate how good the Chelsea defender has been for Spain in the last few weeks.
Chelsea player looks reborn
There’s no doubt that Cucurella right now is in a completely different headspace to six months ago.
Thankfully, he finished the 2023/24 season in great form for Chelsea. That’s since transferred over into his game when representing Spain on the international stage.
It could be a tough battle against Saka in the final, but he’s so much better equipped for that contest now than he would have been at the turn of the year when his form was poor.
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