Match Report
First half:
Malta kicked off the first half in Andalucía, carefully going about their game plan of frustrating the home side. We would see the very same Maltese trio man mark the very same Spanish three: centrally Galea attended to Butragueño, on the right Camilleri looked after Begiristain, whereas Azzopardi, normally a left back without marking instructions, would keep an eye on the lively Manolo. It soon became evident that even Gregory, who had featured as a striker in the tie on Maltese soil, was told to stick close to Vázquez, who has perhaps been the star of the Spanish qualification in their opening four ties. This meant another change in formation for Malta, with Busuttil and Carabott again taking up the most advanced roles.
This was Míchel’s birthday. The Real Madrid star was turning 26. From his role as a deep lying playmaker he would continue to direct the Spanish attacks. Frequently, he would play it short to either Roberto or Vázquez, but with the latter more or less man-marked, something which Spain clearly had a plan B for, Míchel would instead try to exploit the space behind the Maltese number 3. This seemed like a surprise to the visitors, who clearly had planned for a less direct Spain. Manolo was time and again getting in behind Azzopardi, whose marking qualities were far from brilliant. Down the other flank, however, Begiristain was being kept quiet by the solid older Camilleri brother. Though Manolo got away from his marker on a few occasions, Spain could not take advantage, despite a number of decent opportunities to do so. Cluett in Malta’s goal seemed very alert. Again, we would see Cluett being assisted by Buttigieg for Maltese goalkicks.
From his position up in the stands, due to a one match suspension following his red card in Belfast, Spain boss Suárez saw his captain win the toss, and Butragueño chose to remain in the half in which they were already positioned, so Vella, whose hair had appeared to have developed into a proper mullet since their last outing, was left with the kick-off. There were a couple of other events which caught the spectator’s eye in addition to the Malta skipper’s glam-rock like hairdo: Zubizarreta’s cap to shield his eyes from the high-sitting sun made him look like a senior citizen from a Scandinavian country attending a traditional Spanish tourist event in Gran Canaria or Mallorca, and Scerri’s lack of shin pads, playing with his socks around the ankles from kick-off (this had not been an unusual sight from former Spanish left-back Gordillo). A quarter of an hour into the game Sanchís needed a new shirt. His original one had been torn to shreds in a challenge inside the Malta penalty area following a Míchel corner from the right, which had caused some havoc. Despite this scare for the visitors, they were generally keeping a rather less energetic-looking Spain at bay. However, as expected, they offered very little going forward,minor exceptions being a couple of wayward shots from Busuttil and then Carabott. On 27 minutes Degiorgio, Malta’s left side midfielder, was booked for time wasting as he delayed in taking a free-kick. It did seem a bit of a rushed decision by the referee, and one which would come back to haunt the Malta number 10. Scerri took a couple of kicks to his exposed shins and twice went down, and Spain tried to overload Azzopardi’s defensive flank with both full-back Quique and midfielder Vázquez supporting Manolo, with Degiorgio in vain trying to lend his defender some support. On 31 minutes Heese had seen enough of Azzopardi’s indiscipline in marking and his lack of positional sense, so the manager substituted him with Denis Cauchi, who came on to win only his third cap. This saw a switch from right to left for Edwin Camilleri, who would take over the duties of marking Manolo, who had been the main attacking threat throughout the half. Cauchi was trusted with the responsibility of nullifying the danger that everyone knew Begiristain could cause down his flank, as had been seen in their previous meeting.
Malta had been physical on home ground against the Spanish, and Buttigieg chose cynical tactics again when he brutally brought down Butragueño, only for the referee to refrain from a second Maltese booking. Not long after Camilleri, with that recent switch from a less busy afternoon on the right hand side of defence, brought down Manolo, his new task, just outside the penalty area, and, ironically, this would be the instigator which saw the home side take the lead, as Míchel scored from the resultant free-kick via a deflection off Carabott. Right upon half time, the referee would fall for Manolo’s dive to get Degiorgio sent off for a second bookable offence. Quique had just gone hard into two challenges, and perhaps the ref thought Degiorgio was seeking revenge, but all it was was a clumsy challenge which hardly warranted even a free-kick. Quite astonishingly, this was Degiorgio’s second sending-off away to Spain, as he’d suffered a similar fate during the shocking 12-1 defeat just over five years earlier. Being reduced to ten men on the stroke of half time was the last thing Malta needed having just gone a goal down.
Second half:
What would the second half have in store? A Malta pursuing damage limitation. The first 20 minutes or so of the second half were a dire, static affair. Spain were unable to exploit the fact that Malta were down to ten men, and the visitors were more than content just sitting back, thinking a sole goal defeat in Seville a creditable result. And who could blame them? It was Spain who needed to up the ante.
Butragueño thought he’d won the home side a penalty shortly after kick-off in the second period: A ball through the middle from Míchel caught the Maltese defence square and Cluett came out and collided with the Vulture. However, the Swiss referee saw it as an attack on the goalie, despite the fact that the home captain needed a minute’s treatment. Roberto then hit the cross bar when he tried to chip Cluett following Manolo’s cushioned header into his path on 53 minutes, but that was as dangerous as it got for the red and blue, who struggled to break down a resilient Malta. Following Degiorgio’s dismissal, Carabott had taken up a position wide left, with Busuttil left alone up front. Roberto seemed to be in a more advanced role for the home side, as he tried to force his way into the penalty area a couple of times with well-timed runs, though he was not properly fed. And Malta going forward? On 57 minutes they almost forced an opening, when Busuttil, arguably their best player with the ball at his feet, advanced past a sliding Sanchís, only for Zubizarreta, without his silly-looking cap in the second half, to push the incoming Scerri’s effort out for a non-resultant corner.
Out of the blue a Martín Vázquez pass into the area saw Camilleri use his left arm to control the ball, and Míchel netted his second of the afternoon from the resulting penalty, despite Cluett’s best efforts to put him off. This seemed to prompt Spain into a higher pace for a period of time, also buoyed by two substitutions directly after the second goal, with Eloy coming on for Begiristain in a straight swap, and Eusebio replacing Vázquez. Míchel was given a more advanced role, with Eusebio dropping deep. The Real Madrid star revelled in his more forward role, and contributed to the final two goals as well, with a second-assist for Manolo’s first and an then an assist when Manolo headed Spain’s fourth in what seemed like a carbon copy of 3-0. By now, Luis Suárez was stood up against the players’ tunnel wall, probably well pleased with how his assistant “Chus” Pereda had directed the players in el jefe‘s absence from the susbstitutes’ bench.
The Spanish defence were never truly tested during the game, but there was still an opportunity for Andrinúa late on to show his quality when he simply collected the ball off an advancing Busuttil, who then again showed with his body language all of his inbuilt frustration. Andrinúa has emerged during these qualifiers as one of Spain’s brightest talents, and who knows what the future holds for the Basque central defender. He is quick, composed, strong in the tackle as well as in the air, and seems to be a good reader of the game. Pair him with anyone, and you will get a solid Spanish central defensive unit. Pair him with a player of Sanchís’ undoubted calibre, and you get a centre half duo of the highest quality. This youngish Spanish team could well be set for a rosy future, despite far from firing on all cylinders in this particular tie.
27′, 
45′