Analysis:Bonmati cracks German code to send Spain into Euro 2025 final

ZURICH :It took Aitana Bonmati 113 minutes to solve Germany's defensive riddle, but she finally found the answer in extra time, netting a brilliant winner that sent Spain through to Sunday's Women's European Championship final against England.

For nearly two hours, the Spanish midfielder had been pressing, probing and passing as she tried to find a way through a rock-solid German defence intent on frustrating the reigning world and Nations League champions.

The Germans defended superbly, staggering their defensive lines to prevent Spain from playing angled balls into space and forcing their opponents to shift the point of attack relentlessly. 

Spain began by attacking down the left with Claudia Pina and Olga Carmona before switching to the right side, where Mariona Caldentey was given free rein to attack. 

In the middle, Patri Guijarro and Alexia Putellas circulated the ball, keeping it moving from side to side, but it was Bonmati that the Spaniards turned to for inspiration. 

Despite the best efforts of the Germans to shut her down, the fleet-footed midfielder was the spider in the Spanish web, dropping deep at times to collect the ball, passing and moving quickly to try to pull the Germans out of shape.

For the most part, Germany's defenders didn't take the bait and did their best to keep her out of her favourite pocket of space to the right of their penalty area.

Yet inevitably she managed to find a sliver of daylight there on occasion as she tried to tee up her strikers. 

The 27-year-old didn't have it all her own way, expressing frustration when she fired a second-half shot well wide of the target from a good position and scolding herself when her passes didn't come off. 

However, she never let her failures get her down,