Marc Cucurella is hoping that Chelsea team-mate Cole Palmer remains on the bench as he laid out his plan to stop Bukayo Saka ahead of Spain's Euro 2024 final against England. (More Football News)
Marc Cucurella is hoping that Chelsea team-mate Cole Palmer remains on the bench as he laid out his plan to stop Bukayo Saka ahead of Spain's Euro 2024 final against England
Marc Cucurella is hoping that Chelsea team-mate Cole Palmer remains on the bench as he laid out his plan to stop Bukayo Saka ahead of Spain's Euro 2024 final against England. (More Football News)
Palmer is yet to start for Gareth Southgate at the tournament, despite netting 22 goals in 34 Premier League appearances in a turbulent season at Stamford Bridge.
However, the 22-year-old proved his worth from the bench, teeing up Ollie Watkins' late strike against the Netherlands to secure their place in back-to-back European Championship finals.
Asked whether he had been in contact with his Chelsea teammate, Cucurella told Mundo Deportivo: “I spoke with him, but it was over a week ago. We talked for a while in the previous rounds.
“For me, it’s much better if he doesn’t play and stays on the bench.”
Having endured a difficult season at club level, Cucurella has starred for La Roja in Germany, starting all but one of their fixtures at the finals.
Injuries to Jose Gaya and Alejandro Balde resulted in his inclusion in Luis de la Fuente's final 26-man squad.
Although many expected Bayer Leverkusen's Alex Grimaldo to start at left-back, Cucurella has made that position his own and has been one of the most consistent players at the tournament.
But when asked by The Athletic if there was an English player he particularly struggled against, Cucurella said: "He has not played a lot at Euro 2024, but it has to be Cole Palmer.
"His football brain works so quickly, he is always a step ahead of the rest. His decision-making is almost always excellent, and that sort of intelligence is the most difficult thing to defend against, you just can’t predict what he’ll do next. I’ve suffered a lot in training.
"He reminds me a lot of Lamine Yamal. Same style of player. He is a guy who does not care too much about anything. They don’t take life or themselves too seriously.
"If you ran into Palmer in the streets, you would never tell he is a footballer. But then he plays and… oof.
"He arrived at a tough time for Chelsea, when the team was struggling, and he made an impact from the start. That helped him a lot to keep growing and getting more confident. If you manage to get those kinds of players in a situation of confidence, they make the difference.
"I’m so happy and hope he carries on like this… but after this weekend!"
Cucurella is likely to come up against Saka in Berlin should Gareth Southgate stick with the same side that edged past the Netherlands last time out.
The Spaniard knows all too well the threat that Saka possesses, having seen him notch an assist in each of their Premier League encounters last season.
And Cucurella plans to make Sunday's final as uncomfortable as possible for the Arsenal man.
"I know how Saka plays. I don’t really need to watch a lot of footage as I normally watch all the Arsenal games," Cucurella said.
"It is so tough to mark him, but those challenges are nice for me. Playing against rivals of such quality is nice, I’m sure we both can’t wait for it.
"My main target is to make him feel uncomfortable. I also think that the game’s script will depend a lot on Spain and how we play, rather than what England do.
"If we dominate the ball as we’ve done and stay aware of the high pressure and everything we need to do to avoid counter-attacks, we’ll have plenty of chances to win."