Juanfran is looking forward to a reunion with ex-Atletico Madrid teammate Arda Turan, now of Barcelona, when Spain play Turkey.

The countries meet on Friday in the second round of Euro 2016 Group D fixtures, La Roja having started with a win over the Czech Republic while the Crescent Stars lost to Croatia.

“I don’t think it’ll be a physical game. They are quality players who want to play football, want to win. They’re very passionate and I think will want to play one-on-one,” Juanfran told AS.

“I know Arda well. He’s been criticised for the first game and the big players when exposed to the national team receive criticism if the result isn’t good. It’s not the first time he’s been criticised and come back to do very well.

“I haven’t seen him lately but I spoke to him after the Champions League Final. I hope to see him and give him a hug.”

Juanfran also accepted criticism of Spain’s debut performance, but said the victory was the most important thing – and insisted he doesn’t know if he’ll keep his place.

“Ask the Coach! Whoever plays, it’s clear, we want to win and win and win. We want the fans and the whole country to be proud of us,” he continued.

“We created a lot of chances [against the Czech Republic] and played good football. There’ll be games where we are more successful. You can’t blame our forwards that we only won 1-0. Maybe we could have been more focused.

“The team handles these situations. And the goals will come. We beat the Czechs playing well and creating chances and I think that’s the most important thing beyond score more or fewer goals.”

Tags Arda Turan Euro 2016 Juanfran Spain
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