Sarabia and Laporte doubtful for Spain’s semi-final clash with Italy

Sarabia and Laporte doubtful for Spain’s semi-final clash with Italy

 

Pablo Sarabia is very unlikely to face Italy in the UEFA EURO 2020 semi-final, while Aymeric Laporte is also in doubt for Spain.

It will kick off at Wembley Stadium on Tuesday at 20.00 UK time.

The Spaniards were forced into extra time and even a penalty shoot-out before squeezing past 10-man Switzerland in the quarter-final.

Sarabia went off at half-time and there are reports he was diagnosed with a micro-lesion to the adductor.

According to Diario AS, the 29-year-old Paris Saint-Germain winger had originally felt the muscular twinge just five minutes into the game, but tried to carry on for his team and grit his teeth until half-time.

It’s believed to be a right adductor issue and more tests are required to ascertain the extent of the damage.

A recovery for Tuesday would be very difficult, so he is likely to be replaced in the starting XI by Dani Olmo.

This is a blow for Luis Enrique, with the 29-year-old PSG winger scoring two goals at EURO 2020, against Slovakia and Croatia, as well as providing two assists.

The Spain squad returned to training at the Ciudad de Futbol and the only other player to miss out was Laporte, who worked in the gym.

This is reportedly due to fatigue, as he is the only player to have played every single minute of Spain’s EURO 2020, which saw two games go to extra time.

Italy will also have a major absentee of course, as Leonardo Spinazzola was ruled out for several months after tearing his Achilles tendon during the 2-1 win over Belgium.

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