Euro 2016: Italy Beat Spain, Now , waits For Germany

It has a new favorite: the rugged  Italians. In the first of Monday's round of 16 matches, they made Spain look over the hill, beating the defending champions 2-0. It was a surprisingly one-sided affair. It was the sort of match between big footballing nations that many fans would prefer to see in a later stage of the tournament. But with Spain having only finished second in their qualifying group, they were forced to take on an opponent whose defense had proved as uncompromising as the best Italian teams of yesteryear.

The Spaniards were nonetheless the favorites on a rainy evening in Paris - perhaps because they had dispatched Italy 4-0 to win the tournament four years earlier. But the Italians were the better team at the start, with Graziano Pelle outjumping Sergio Busquets on a free kick and drawing a save from David de Gea in the eighth minute.

Spain's famed tiki-taka style was nowhere to be seen. Indeed, the defending European champions struggled to gain control of the ball against the surprisingly attack-minded Italians. It was the sort of match between big footballing nations that many fans would prefer to see in a later stage of the tournament. But with Spain having only finished second in their qualifying group, they were forced to take on an opponent whose defense had proved as uncompromising as the best Italian teams of yesteryear.

The Spaniards were nonetheless the favorites on a rainy evening in Paris - perhaps because they had dispatched Italy 4-0 to win the tournament four years earlier. But the Italians were the better team at the start, with Graziano Pelle outjumping Sergio Busquets on a free kick and drawing a save from David de Gea in the eighth minute.

Spain's famed tiki-taka style was nowhere to be seen. Indeed, the defending European champions struggled to gain control of the ball against the surprisingly attack-minded Italians.