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Europe beware Spain might just be back. The three-time European champion advanced to the round of 16 at Euro 2024 after a 1-0 win against holders Italy on Thursday. A 55th-minute own goal by Riccardo Calafiori settled the Group B game at the Veltins Arena in Gelsenkirchen. But that didn't begin to tell the full story of a statement performance from Spain, which surely marks it as one of the favorites to win a record-extending fourth European Championship. I think it was the best Spain performance I have taken charge of, coach Luis de la Fuente said. I don't see a ceiling on this team. The sky is the limit. Spain totally dominated defending champion Italy, with 16-year-old winger Lamine Yamal further enhancing his reputation as one of soccer's most exciting young stars. Player of the match Nico Williams also tormented Italy's defenders and was the width of the crossbar away from scoring in the second half. It took Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma to keep the score down with
Tighter water restrictions for drought-stricken northeast Spain went into effect Wednesday, when authorities in Catalonia said that Barcelona may need to have fresh water shipped in by boat in the coming months. Catalonia is suffering its worst drought on record with reservoirs that provide water for about 6 million people, including Spain's second-biggest city Barcelona, filled to just 18 per cent of their capacity. By comparison, Spain's reservoirs as a whole are at 43 per cent of their capacity. Spanish authorities and experts point to the impact of climate change in the increasingly hot and dry weather behind the extended drought in Catalonia. Barcelona has already been relying on Europe's largest desalination plant for drinking water, and a sewage treatment and purification plant to make up for the drop in water from wells and rivers. Catalonia officially entered the pre-emergency phase for drought, which lowers the daily use per person from 230 to 210 liters (60 to 55 gallons
After crashing out of the Champions League, coach Ronald Koeman said that Argentine striker Lionel Messi should not have any doubts about the quality of this Barcelona side.Messi missed the penalty against Paris Saint-Germain as the LaLiga giants played out a 1-1 draw in the Champions League second-leg clash of the round-of-16 fixture on Wednesday (local time).PSG had defeated Barcelona 4-1 in the first-leg and as a result, the French side progressed to the quarter-finals 5-2 on aggregate."Leo's seen for a while that the team is improving with the changes we've made. There are many youngsters with quality and a big future coming in, so it's not a question of having doubts about this team," Goal.com quoted Koeman as saying.French striker Kylian Mbappe opened the scoring in the second-leg fixture as he converted the penalty in the 30th minute of the game. The lead did not last long as Messi's 37th-minute strike squared-off things for the visitors at Parc des Princes. No further goals ...