Spain may have breezed through to the Euro 2024 knockout stages but Luis de la Fuente refused to compare his side to the dominant La Roja team that lifted European and World Cup glory.
De la Fuente's side have eased through Group B, making it to the last 16 with a game to spare after beating Croatia 3-0 and Italy 1-0.
That dominance has left some comparing the current crop of Spain stars to the side that triumphed at the World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship two years later.
De la Fuente says there can be no such praise yet, however, as his new-look Spain squad have not achieved anything.
"We have a long way to go to catch up with that national team you mentioned because they won the Euros," De La Fuente said at a pre-match press conference on Sunday ahead of Monday's meeting with Albania.
"We need to improve in every area. That may seem negative but we have to keep improving. That's our goal from day to day.
"The good news is there's huge room for improvement, possibly infinite or maybe there's a limit. That's what makes us feel very optimistic."
Indeed, the triumphant Spain side from yesteryear included the likes of David Villa, Andres Iniesta and Xavi, as well as Iker Casillas and Carles Puyol further back.
Rodri has taken a Xavi-like role in midfield but will be suspended for the next clash with Albania, where De la Fuente insists Spain will not rest on their laurels.
"We're only focusing on winning because we want to win every match," the former La Roja youth coach added.
"We want to send out what we feel is the best side. We have complete confidence in our 26 players here. Everyone has a chance to play here at a high level, so I'm very calm about that."
Spain and France are the only sides to have not conceded yet at this tournament, despite the likes of England and Germany also being touted as pre-Euros favourites.
De la Fuente expects the favourites to soon click into gear, though.
"I don't think we've seen the real quality of certain teams yet," he continued. "Some of them have reached a strong competitive level straight away while others that some may call favourites or contenders, they haven't yet got going fully.
"When you head into the knockout phase, there's no room for error. So I think that once the last 16 begins, I think we'll see the real potential of every team."
Leeds cut gap to automatic promotion spots with comfortable win over Coventry
Leeds United closed the gap to second place to just two points in the Championship, following a 3-0 victory over out-of-form Coventry City at Elland Road.
Wilfried Gnonto got the game off to a good start for Daniel Farke's side, expertly turning home a cross just inside the box with a first-time finish to open the scoring.
Last season's losing play-off finalists wrapped up a comfortable victory in the second half with goals from Jayden Bogle - his first as a Leeds player - and Joel Piroe, who has now scored three in four as a substitute.
The victory sees Leeds climb to fourth, significantly taking the opportunity to cut the gap to the automatic promotion places with both West Brom and Sunderland losing.
Coventry, meanwhile, have lost four and drawn one of their last five matches in all competitions. They are fourth-bottom, with just goal difference separating them from the relegation zone.
Second-placed Sunderland missed the chance to go top as they were beaten 2-1 away to Watford.
Regis Le Bris' side went a goal down in the first half to a Festy Ebosele volley before equalising shortly after half-time through Wilson Isidor. They were unable to push on for a winner, with Tom Dele-Bashiru scoring a late penalty to win it for the hosts.
The win leaves Watford in seventh place in the Championship, outside the play-offs on goal difference, while Sunderland stay second.
Managerless Cardiff City lost their fifth straight match in all competitions and are still searching for their first league win of the season after being thumped 4-1 away to Hull City.
The Bluebirds initially went a goal up in the first half through Callum Robinson, which was just their second league goal of the season.
They could only hold the lead for four minutes, before Bachir Belloumi equalised for the hosts. He grabbed a brace 10 minutes before half-time and Hull never looked back.
Two second-half goals ensured another miserable afternoon for Cardiff, who remain bottom of the Championship with just one point after seven matches. Hull are up to 12th.
Nottingham Forest 0-1 Fulham: Jimenez penalty seals Cottagers win
Fulham brought Nottingham Forest's unbeaten start to the Premier League season to a halt with a hard-fought 1-0 victory at the City Ground.
There was very little to choose between two sides separated by a mere point at kick-off, but Raul Jimenez’s second-half penalty, awarded for Murillo's foul on Andreas Pereira, proved decisive.
Forest had started brightly with Taiwo Awoniyi missing an early chance, while Chris Wood saw a potential opener disallowed for offside following a VAR review in the 25th minute.
However, Nuno Espirito Santo's team failed to find a spark without the suspended Morgan Gibbs-White as Fulham's own impressive start to 2024/25 continued.
The result leaves Forest ninth in the table with nine points, with Fulham leapfrogging their hosts to move into sixth on 11 points.
Data Debrief: Fulham maintain unbeaten run
Fulham are undefeated in their last five games in the Premier League since going down 1-0 at Manchester United on the opening matchday.
They last enjoyed a streak of this length between December 13, 2020 and January 10, 2021.
Jimenez has now scored three goals in his last three games, maintaining his good record against Forest, with three goals in two matches against them.
Chelsea 4-2 Brighton: Palmer makes Premier League history as Maresca's side fight back
Cole Palmer made Premier League history as Chelsea beat Brighton 4-2 in a six-goal thriller at Stamford Bridge.
Palmer became the first player to score four goals before half-time in a single Premier League game, helping Enzo Maresca’s side record their fourth straight victory in all competitions.
Brighton took an early lead through Georginio Rutter's header, but were powerless as Palmer took command of the contest.
His remarkable quadruple came in the space of 20 minutes - including a penalty and free-kick - with Carlos Baleba's strike to make it 3-2 swiftly cancelled out by Chelsea's talisman.
Nicolas Jackson and Palmer went close after the break for the hosts, who also had a Marc Cucurella goal disallowed for offside, but they held out for another victory.
The Blues climb to third place, a point behind pacesetters Manchester City and Arsenal, while Brighton drop to eighth after suffering their first defeat of the season.
Data Debrief: History-making Palmer does the damage once more
Palmer completed his third Premier League hat-trick - the joint-most by any Chelsea player along with Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard - in the space of only nine minutes and 45 seconds.
The Blues forward also hit the post, was denied by the offside flag and then slotted a decent opportunity wide after the break, so we could have been saluting the first player to score six or more goals in a single Premier League game.
His fourth goal was set up by Sancho, who became the third Chelsea player after Eden Hazard (2012) and Cesc Fabregas (2014) to provide an assist in each of his first three Premier League appearances for the club.
As for Brighton, they are now without a victory in each of their last nine Premier League visits to London, since a 3-0 win over Arsenal in May 2023.
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