Spain will leave striker Álvaro Morata on the bench and field Marcos Llorente on the right side for the first time as big new additions to the starting XI on Tuesday for the World Cup round of 16 against Morocco.
Morata, the Atlético Madrid striker, scored a goal in each of the three group stage matches but only started in the last of them, the stunning 2-1 loss to Japan.
Instead, Marco Asensio (Real Madrid) will take over, who played a false nine in the first two games, and will be escorted on the wings by Ferran Torres and Dani Olmo.
On the right side, the other big doubt of the eleven, coach Luis Enrique decided for Marcos Llorente (Atlético de Madrid), who will start in the tournament at the expense of the two incumbents, César Azpilicueta and Dani Carvajal.
The Spanish midfielder will again consist of Barcelona players Sergio Busquets, Pedri and Gavi.
For their part, Morocco made a change to their starting XI from their last match, a 2-1 victory over Canada at the end of the group.
This change takes place in midfield, where Selim Amallah, who came into play in the 65th minute against the Canadians, is now in the game, in place of Abdelhamid Sabiri.
The rest of Walid Regragui’s men are on schedule, with the main figures starting the match at the Education City Stadium in Doha.
Goalkeeper Yassine Bounou ‘Bono’, winger Achraf Hakimi and the attacking trio made up of Sofiane Boufal, Youssef En Nesyri and Hakim Ziyech are part of this eleven in the history of the ‘Atlas Lions’, which for the second times in its history They play the round of 16 of a World Cup.
For its part, Spain hopes to return to the quarter-finals for the first time since reaching its only trophy in South Africa in 2010.
The winner of the match, which kicks off at 6:00 p.m. local time (3:00 p.m. GMT), will face either Portugal or Switzerland in the quarter-finals.
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