Reigning European champions Spain suffered a shock exit in the group stage of the World Cup last summer and haven't had it all their own way in qualifying for France 2016.
Vicente del Bosque's side are second in Group C behind surprise package Slovakia, who are one of only two sides still with a 100% record at the halfway mark of qualifying, and next travel to Borisov to face Belarus.
Belarus have never qualified for the finals of a major tournament and Aleksandr Khatskevich's side made a poor start to their bid to reach Euro 2016.
They started with a trip to the lowest-ranked side in the group, Luxembourg, and were only able to draw 1-1 before suffering three straight defeats to Ukraine, Slovakia and Spain, scoring just once in those three losses.
A run of seven Euro qualifiers without a win was ended last time out, though, as Khatskevich's men went to Macedonia and came from behind to win 2-1 and move up to fourth in the group.
Still, they are five points behind third-placed Ukraine and will need to have a monumental second half of qualifying if they are to sneak into the top three.
Since that win in Skopje the Belarusians have been held at home by Gabon and lost 4-2 away to Russia in a pair of friendlies.
The reigning champions should still qualify with ease for next summer's finals, but the fact that they are not top of the group is an eye-opener.
Since the World Cup, they have lost four of their nine games and one of those defeats was in Zilina against the surprising Slovaks.
After that setback they have recorded three straight wins in qualifying without conceding a goal against Luxembourg, Ukraine and Sunday's opponents Belarus.
In fact, La Roja have kept a clean sheet in eight of their last 10 European Championship matches.
They have played two friendlies since their last qualifier against Ukraine, going down 2-0 to the Netherlands in March before a 2-1 win over Costa Rica last night.
Del Bosque's men stayed 10th in the latest FIFA world rankings, 70 places above their opponents.
With Chelsea striker Diego Costa missing, Del Bosque must choose whether to start Paco Alcacer, who scored in the win over Costa Rica, or Alvaro Morata up front.
Between them, the duo have just 10 international caps and Morata might just get the nod after his strong end to the season with Juventus.
Cesc Fabregas scored the other goal last night, but he might have to settle for a place on the bench if Isco gets the nod in midfield.
Mikhail Gordeychuk, Sergei Balanovich and Dmitri Verkhovtsov all had to withdraw from the Belarus squad ahead of the friendly with Russia so won't be available here.
Belarus possible starting lineup:
Chernik; Shitov, Martynovich, Filipenko, Bordachev; Hleb, Kislyak, Dragun; Krivets, Putsila; Kornilenko
Spain possible starting lineup:
Casillas; Carvajal, Pique, Ramos, Alba; Koke, Busquets, Iniesta; Isco, Silva; Morata
Tag :
European Championship
