Spain coach Luis de la Fuente sees the Euro 2024 clash against holders Italy as a decisive match and an "early final."
"It's the most important game so far," he said in a news conference on Wednesday.
Spain face Italy in the second round of the group stage on Thursday. Both teams got all three points from their openers and the winner is guaranteed in the last 16.
"We're similar in many ways, so it will be a complicated game. A top-level game that we can all look forward to," de la Fuente said.
The coach will decide only on matchday whether he will change his starting line-up after the 3-0 win against Croatia, but urged his players to keep improving.
"We always have room for improvement, we need to be humble, to try and grow and keep competing.
"It’s a long distance race in the end, we know the potential of these national teams because we’ve seen them in the qualification stage in different games so the potential that France has, Germany, England, Italy, we know them perfectly," he said.
