Spain defender Marc Cucurella names the England star he hopes 'stays on the bench' when La Roja meet Gareth Southgate's side in the Euro 2024 final

Spain and Chelsea defender Marc Cucurella has identified one member of Gareth Southgate's England squad he hopes stays on the bench when La Roja meet the Three Lions in the Euro 2024 final on Sunday. 

The two sides go head-to-head in Berlin tomorrow night in what promises to be a thrilling conclusion to the tournament in Germany. 

Cucurella has impressed with his performances for Luis de la Fuente's men, with his displays seeing him selected ahead of Bayer Leverkusen's Alex Grimaldo at left-back. 

Ahead of the clash at the Olympiastadion, the Blues defender revealed that he has been in contact with his club team-mate Cole Palmer and claimed that he hopes the talented youngster plays no part in the encounter. 

‘I spoke with him, but it was over a week ago. We talked for a while in the previous rounds,’ Cucurella told Spanish publication Mundo Deportivo.

 ‘For me, it’s much better if he doesn’t play and stays on the bench.’

Coming off the back of a stunning debut season at Stamford Bridge, Palmer has been forced to make do with a bit part role during England's Euro campaign. Yet, he has still managed to make a couple of telling contributions. 

The 22-year-old confidently dispatched the opening penalty for England in their quarter-final shoot-out win over Switzerland before providing a superb assist for Ollie Watkins' 90th-minute winner in the semi-final. 

The clash between England and Spain will bring together a number of club team-mates and Cucurella revealed that De la Fuente has sought the advice from a number of his Premier League-based players. 

'Today we had our first talk and we discussed it a bit.' He added. ‘But he has Rodri, who knows more about English football than I do.

‘I suppose that if he has doubts, we can give him different points of view.

‘We are going to approach the game as we have done for every other match so far. If we are at our best level, we have a good chance of winning.’

Spain go into the final as favourites after sweeping aside all challengers on their way to Berlin. The 25-year-old fullback has been one of a number of stars to impress in Germany. 

He drew the ire of many of the home support for his involvement in a controversial penalty decision during Spain's win over Germany in the quarter-final last week. That resulted in him receiving boos from Germans in attendance of La Roja's semi-final against France. 

‘At first, yes, a little, because I didn’t really understand it.' He said. ‘But I quickly saw that there were a lot of people in white and I understood why.

‘Spending money to be in the semi-finals of the European Championship and then to boo… they could have given the ticket to someone who would have enjoyed the match. 

‘The important thing is that we are in the final and the people who were angry or bored are watching it at home.’