Some conundrums ahead of opening Euro 2016 game for Spain

European champions Spain heads into their opening game against Czech Republic on Monday with doubts over their challenge for a third consecutive triumph at the tournament.

Spain became the first team ever to win the competition twice in a row in 2012, but there are still a lot of questions marks over La Roja. Vicente del Bosque’s side topped their group by winning their last eight group games, having suffered a shock 2-1 defeat against Slovakia in their second game.

Del Bosque’s side’s performance in qualifying was regarded as underwhelming, as they recorded 1-0 wins over modest opposition in the likes of Belarus and Macedonia. In certain areas of the pitch the Spaniards look well stocked, but in other areas they are light.

The striking position is likely to be a conundrum for Spain’s veteran boss, as he decided to leave out Chelsea’s Diego Costa, who was for a while the country’s first choice in the lone striker role.

The likes of Alvaro Morata, Nolito and Aritz Aduriz are hardly seasoned campaigners and, with the exception of a stand-out season from Aduriz, none of the trio have been prolific. Real Madrid’s Lucas Vasquez is another attacking option for Spain and is not prolific either.

The defending European Champions will very much be depending on the likes Pedro, Cesc Fabregas, Koke and David Silva to give them their attacking impetus in France.

Their recent friendly results have been mixed, with their last friendly seeing Del Bosque’s side suffering a 1-0 defeat against minnows Georgia.

Czech Republic will not be easy opponents, but everybody associated with the reigning European Champions will be hoping that the team can invoke the spirit of 2012, and not the spirit of World Cup 2014, when they suffered an embarrassing exit at the group stage.