History suggests Spain should do it
When Spain smashed Russia 4-1 in their first Group D game on 10 June they became one of the tournament favourites - and rightly so because with Villa/Torres up front the Spanish looked as if they had the attacking force of Euro 2008. But while they were impressive in the Group games things haven’t exactly gone according to plan since then and Spain had to beat Italy on penalties last Sunday in order to progress.
So, can Russia overcome the psychological barrier of being thrashed in a group game by the same team they meet in the semi-finals? There is one precedent in a European Championship for a team to have lost a group game and then turned the tables later on in the tournament, and that is Holland back in 1988, when they lost to the USSR and then beat them in the final.
On the other two occasions that this situation has arisen, Greece and Germany (albeit in extra time) franked the form against Portugal and the Czech Republic. It’s a 3/5 chance on BetUK that Spain will qualify for the final against Germany on Sunday. History actually tells us that Spain should be able to do it.