Can England crack super Spain to claim Euro title?

The last few hours before a major final always have that strangely charged serenity.

- MIGUEL DELANEY

If that sounds like a contradiction, it only fits with the mood. At England's Dolder Grand base, there's also one question left hanging in the rarefied air. Will Sarina Wiegman come up with something different for the Euro 2025 final - the team’s third in a row, and her fifth?

The route to Basel’s St Jakob-Park has been tumultuous, with the England manager arguably getting her starting approach wrong in at least three games. Nevertheless, there is another crucial element. This is the sixth time that Wiegman’s England have faced Spain in three years, the third in a major tournament, and the fourth since Spain evolved into this imperious team that dominates every game they play. England have lost two of those last three, but that has at least given the manager and her players a deeper understanding of how the Spanish work, the little details. So, does she do anything special? Can she surprise them?

The suggestions so far are that there won’t be anything radical, but that’s only so far. Epiphanies can arrive in the tense final moments. That’s the thing when two sides know each other as intimately as this. Such challenges come down to the intricacies, the little movements. That level of familiarity speaks to the fact that these have become the two powers in the women's game, as well as the wider game. They are intertwined in many other ways. Both are going for doubles.