Spain's lineup changes spark goals outburst against Saudi Arabia

Spain cruised to a 4-0 victory over Saudi Arabia on Sunday in Atlanta, shaking off one of the most stunning results in recent World Cup history. Remember that the Spaniards opened their World Cup last week with a scoreless draw against Cabo Verde, causing shockwaves throughout the footballing world and raising plenty of questions about the validity of Luis de la Fuente's side as a pre-tournament favourite.

Well, all it took was a number of key changes to the starting XI and a tactical shift for La Roja to get back to the form that made them a top contender in the first place.

• Read next | Spain vs. Saudi Arabia player ratings: Who starred in Spanish bounce-back match?

The most obvious difference for Spain, from a lineup perspective, was the presence of Lamine Yamal in the starting XI. The teenager is already his nation's talisman, and his creativity and sheer presence were welcomed in the starting lineup after he made a cameo against Cabo Verde last week.

Yamal is still working his way back to fitness from a hamstring injury, but even having him for 45 minutes (and from the outset) rather than the 20 minutes he played in Spain's first match was a major difference as the young star helped De La Fuente's side establish their desired rhythm from the opening whistle, and his trickery caused the Saudis to focus a lot of attention on him.

His 10th-minute goal didn't hurt either, as it opened the floodgates for what was a truly dominant first 25 minutes from the European side.

Much of that dominance came by the way of Spain's attack out wide, led by Yamal and one of De La Fuente's other changes to the starting XI, Álex Baena. The duo were relentless in applying pressure down the wings as well as running onto passes sent from the more central areas of the pitch by the likes of Pedri, two-goal scorer Mikel Oyarzabal and the third change to Spain's starting lineup, Dani Olmo.

It was Olmo's vision that unlocked much of what the Spaniards were trying to accomplish against Saudi Arabia, with his ability to spot a passing lane having been sorely missed in the Cabo Verde draw. The 28-year-old took the starting job from Fabian Ruiz, who failed to impress in Spain's opener, and has probably locked himself in at the No. 10 position for the remainder of his team's stay in North America.

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A fourth change to the starting XI, in the shape of Pedro Porro at right-back in place of Marcos Llorente, also aided in Spain's attempts to exploit the wide areas of the pitch, with Porro often providing supporting runs out of the back in order to imbalance the Saudi defence.

• Read next | Tactical analysis: How Spain exploited wide areas to near-perfection against Saudi Arabia

In all, the personnel shake-up and tactical shift were catalysts in a massive improvement for the Spaniards, and with Yamal's increasing fitness it's likely that De La Fuente's focus will remain on getting the most out of his team's embarrassment of riches throughout the squad. With how well Spain performed in their bounce-back match, the question is whether the changes were simply temporary measures for this particular game or an indicator of what's to come for the rest of La Roja's World Cup journey.

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