How Spain made it to their first Women's European Championship final at Germany's expense

A repeat of either the 2022 Euros final or the 2023 World Cup final was possible, and although Spain had long been considered the favorites of the tournament, they had never reached a European final.

Germany had participated in seven of the last eight finals

Germany on the other hand, had the experience of nine previous Women's Euros finals to rely on, including seven of the last eight, six of which they had won.

Despite this, it was Spain's starting XI on Wednesday that boasted a total of 165 appearances in major tournaments (World Cup/Euros), compared to just 93 appearances among the German starting players.

As anticipated, the first 10 minutes of the match involved both teams settling in and identifying their attacking strategies. Spain dominated the passing statistics, with Irene Parades completing 26 passes within the first 15 minutes.

No German player had completed more than five, and the German team had only managed a total of 33 passes by that point in the match.

German central midfielder, Sara Dabritz, soon received her side's seventh yellow card of the tournament, even before she had made a single pass in the game.

Spain's control of the ball persisted, and both Paredes and the tournament's top scorer, Esther Gonzalez, challenged Ann-Katrin Berger in the German goal with shots on target.

Spain's 78% possession

Although the Spaniards had 78% possession after half an hour, their opponents' defense remained steadfast, resulting in Montse Tome's team managing only five touches in the German penalty area.

This created a sense of déjà vu, as in the last six encounters between the teams, Spain had failed to score in four matches and netted only one goal in the other two, none of which they had won.

Relentless Spanish pressure leading up to half-time resulted in another eight shots in the final six minutes of the half, three of which were on target and one hitting the post.

The immovable object versus the unstoppable force

Still, Germany held strong but struggled to pose any attacking threat. In fact, it had been since the 2015 FIFA World Cup semi-final against the USA that they had failed to have a shot on target in the first half of a major tournament match, while Spain's 12 shots in the opening 45 minutes marked the highest number by a team in a Euro semi-final since Germany faced Sweden in 2013.

It was clear that changes were necessary after the break for Christian Wuck's team, and in the first 15 minutes, the Germans managed to raise their possession stats to a more respectable 40%, while also getting more shots off than their opponents (three to two).

As the match progressed, the pattern reverted to the immovable object against the irresistible force, raising the question of who would yield first.

Germany excelled in the physical contest

Patri Guijarro was certainly doing her utmost to prevent the game from extending into an exhausting extra 30 minutes, and her four chances created from open play were only surpassed by Guijarro herself (five chances) in a group stage match back in 2022.

If there was one area where Spain was falling short, leading to Germany's success, it was in the physical aspects of the game.

Thirty tackles attempted were 12 more than Spain could muster, and the 15 won by the Germans were nearly double that of their opponents.

In the latter stages of the 90 minutes, it seemed that both teams were settling for extra time; however, a late surge from the Germans, who had four shots in a minute during injury time, saw Cata Coll working harder than she had in the 93 minutes prior.

Remarkably, another goalless period in regular time left Spain with an unwanted record of not having scored against Germany in a competitive match for 450 minutes.

Sophia Kleinherne motivated her team as they began to tire, continuing to engage actively during extra time. Her seventh duel won was the highest among defenders on the pitch.

Berger finally defeated late in extra time

By half-time in extra time, there had been 20 shots taken collectively without either team scoring. The only match with more shots without a goal was when Spain played Austria in the 2017 Euro quarter-final (21).

This highlighted not only the efforts of each team's attacking players but also the defensive excellence, particularly from the German back line.

With eight minutes remaining, Berger was finally beaten, and when she reviews the replay, she will undoubtedly be frustrated with herself.

Aitana Bonmati had evaded her marker in the area, but the angle was far too narrow to score, and a pull-back seemed to be the only option.

Sensing an incoming cross, Berger made the critical error of slightly moving away from her near post, leaving a gap for the Barcelona player to strike home what turned out to be the winner. This marked her third knockout goal in major competitions, bringing her level with Jenni Hermoso (three each).

Germany again finished stronger than the two teams, but a historic first win for Spain Women against the most successful Women's European Championship team in history soon became a reality.

In the aftermath, if Wuck and his players are searching for reasons for their failure to reach another final, just 17 touches in the opposition penalty box compared to Spain's 38 is one of many factors that tell the story.

Follow the EURO 2025 final here.