Pique points to Spain's unfair 'disadvantage' in Euro semi-finals vs Italy

The two contestants couldn’t be separated after 120 minutes of action, forcing the game at Wembley to go into penalty shootouts.

Gerard Pique is of the view Spain had an unfair “disadvantage” in the Euro semi-finals against Italy as they had to go second in the penalty shootouts.

Spain and Italy played out a 1-1 stalemate after extra time at Wembley on Tuesday night, with Alvaro Morata’s strike from close range canceling out Federico Chiesa’s second-half opener.

The match went into penalty shootouts, with Italy winning the toss. Roberto Mancini’s men started the shootout on a bad note as Manuel Locatelli missed the first spot-kick.

The Spaniards, however, also missed their first penalty, allowing the opponents to get back in the game and eventually win the match 4-2.

There have now been 21 penalty shoot-outs in European Championship history:

🇮🇹 ❌✅❌✅❌❔
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Italy and Spain have been involved in 12 of them combined. 🍿 pic.twitter.com/ULVutFxfEo
— William Hill (@WilliamHill) July 6, 2021

“It is no coincidence that the four rounds that have been so much in the Euro 2020 like in the Copa America the team that shoots first has won,” Pique said in a Tweet.

“Statistics say that the former has more options and in a tournament like this it does not seem fair to me that a draw should make you start at a disadvantage.”

Italy will now face either England or Denmark in the Euro 2020 finals, scheduled for June 11 at Wembley.