By Lewis Nicol

The Red Fury will take out their anger on Scotland in Sevilla for the defeat they faced at the hands of the Scots in Glasgow. 

Spain will look for vengeance in their second leg match against the Scots after succumbing to a 2-0 defeat last time around. The Spanish went into the previous game with a weakened side, making eight changes after their 3-0 triumph over Norway, perhaps underestimating Steve Clark’s men. 

The Tartan Army were fortunate to host the Spaniards at Hampden on one of their off nights. However, it will be a less than desirable story this time around with Spain expected to field a stronger side.  

Spain have been on a tear since the Scotland result, demolishing Georgia 7-1 and hammering Cyprus 6-0. These results, despite not being against the toughest opponents, show that Spain can once again be considered among the heavyweights of international football.  

This game is the 15^th match between the two nations with Scotland only winning four of these matches. A couple of memorable, or forgettable results, include Spain’s 3-1 victory in the European Championship qualifiers in 2011 and Scotland’s 3-1 triumph way back in 1984 in World Cup Qualifiers.   

Despite having the odds stacked against them, Scotland find themselves in an advantageous position in the group, sitting six points ahead of the matadors at the top of the table and only needing one point to guarantee their place at the Euros in Germany, 2024. Although, the Spanish have a game in hand which, depending on the result, gives them an opportunity to secure themselves the place at the top of the table.  

Scotland are not out the dark yet as Norway are still in contention. Although, the Lions will need to win all their remaining games and hope that the Scots national team live up to their stereotype of not producing the results when it matters most. However, it would have to be a disastrous turn of events to not secure the one point needed to qualify. 

Both teams are going into the game with altered squads from the reverse fixture: – 

Scotland are missing two important parts of their squad with Kieran Tierney and Ryan Jack both out due to injuries. Kieran Tierney will likely be the bigger miss out of the two as he is an integral part of Scotland’s build-up play, usually linking up with Andy Robertson down the left flank. 

Spain will be disappointed that their newest prospect Lamine Yamal has had to pull out last-minute due to injury.  In replacement of Yamal they have called upon the services of Brighton loanee Ansu Fati.

The game will certainly be a tough challenge for the Scots but they are going into the game on top of the world and in great form, especially players such as Scott McTominay, who just scored a brace in extra time to secure Manchester United a win before the national break. Clark’s men will definetely be up for the fight.

However, the Tartan Army should not be too disappointed if the team fail to pull off a positive result as they still have more than enough chances against weaker oppositions to secure qualification. However, the culture around Scottish football and alcohol is linked and can cause upset fans to take out their frustrations on those around, especially the women in their lives.

Our reporter Saffron McKee explored this in more depth.