Spain 4-1 Finland: Barça stars give La Roja dream start at Euro 2022
Three of the four goals were scored by Barcelona players in England on Friday
Spain recovered from conceding early to beat Finland as they kicked off their European Championships campaign with a 4-1 in Milton Keynes on Friday.
Linda Sallstrom gave Finland a surprise lead inside the first minute, but Jorge Vilda's side fought back with two goals in each half.
Irene Paredes, Aitana Bonmati, Lucia Garcia and Mariona Caldentey were all on target ahead of tougher challenges to come against Germany and Denmark.
All the focus pre-game had been on the injury to Alexia Putellas, who tore her ACL in training on Tuesday and is set for months on the sidelines.
She was in the stands at Stadium MK, wearing a Spain shirt, to see her teammates get off to the worst possible start.
With less than a minute on the clock, and with La Roja's backline in disarray, Sallstrom raced through and slotted past Sandra Paños.
Spain reacted well but it took a while to get back into the game. Patri Guijarro had a goal ruled out for offside when, in the 26th minute, Paredes headed in Barça teammate Mariona's cross.
It was another Barça combo that gave Spain the lead just before the break. Defender Mapi Leon's brilliant cross was flicked home by Aitana.
Spain continued to apply more pressure after the break and Mapi Leon was again the creator for the third goal, her free-kick turned into the net by Athletic Club's Lucia Garcia.
The fourth and final goal came in stoppage time when Mariona converted from the penalty spot after Marta Cardona was brought down.
