Luis Enrique reckons he would have "had a heart-attack" if he knew Spain were briefly heading out of the World Cup during Thursday's dramatic conclusion to Group E.
Spain were beaten 2-1 by Samurai Blue at the Khalifa International Stadium, with Japan coming from behind in the second half after Alvaro Morata's early opener.
La Roja went into the game top of the table but needed a point to absolutely make sure of progression.
They did not even manage that, but Germany's 4-2 win over Costa Rica elsewhere ensured Luis Enrique's men lived to fight another day at the expense of Die Nationalelf, finishing second behind Japan.
There were a few minutes, however, where Spain dropped out of the top two completely as Costa Rica led Germany.
Luis Enrique claimed he was unaware, and he was seemingly grateful for his ignorance.
"We were knocked out for three minutes? Why do you say this? I was not paying attention," Luis Enrique said with a look of bemusement. "When did that happen?
"Okay, fantastic. I didn't know this. Why? Because I was paying attention to my match. If I'd have found out, I'd have had a heart-attack."
Of course, the defeat ultimately cost Spain little because many will argue their immediate path in the knockout stages is now kinder than it would have been if they won the group.
Topping Group E would have put them on track to face Croatia next and potentially Brazil in the quarter-finals.
Finishing as runners-up means they are now likely to come up against Portugal in the last eight, assuming La Roja get beyond Morocco.
Talk of result manipulation to avoid Brazil dominated the news agenda before this game, but given how close Spain came to packing their bags, Luis Enrique was in no mood to celebrate progression.
"In football there are no good or bad sides," he added. "In football you deserve or not and today I'm not happy at all.
"Yes, we qualified, I'd have liked to be top by winning this game, but this was not possible because in five minutes they got two goals, and in 10 minutes we were completely out.
"We were dismantled. We tried to close the game, but it wasn't possible. But we didn't have any danger in the first half, then in the second… I told them in half-time [Japan] will push us, they had nothing to lose.
"We didn't have good game management, we collapsed. I'm not happy, I never celebrate defeats.
"I have nothing to celebrate. Of course, the bracket changes and many things are different, but I have nothing to celebrate."
Japan's winning goal by Ao Tanaka was somewhat controversial in nature, as replays showed the ball was agonisingly close to going out of play before Kaoru Mitoma's cut-back to the match-winner.
Luis Enrique was shown an image of the situation and was left concluding it to be fake.
"I saw the images, they must be wrong or fabricated," he said. "I saw an image and said that can't be true.
"I have nothing else to say. I have full respect. I knew something going on as VAR took so long."
De Bruyne: Man City know title race 'is not over'
Kevin De Bruyne insists the Manchester City players know the Premier League title race is not over, despite being in the driving seat with just one game left.
The Citizens beat Tottenham 2-0 on Tuesday in their game in hand over leaders Arsenal, leapfrogging them to the top of the table.
City will host West Ham on the final weekend and as long as Pep Guardiola’s side match Arsenal’s result against Everton, they will win an unprecedented fourth consecutive Premier League title.
De Bruyne has played down suggestions that City celebrated like they had already won the title following the victory.
"We were happy, obviously, because it gets in the place that we wanted to be on Sunday," he told Sky Sports. "I didn't feel like there were any extra celebrations.
"Obviously, you're happy to win the game, but we know it's not done yet.
"I know everybody's talking now saying it should be easy, but we're used to playing these couple of games against Brighton and Villa before and it's never easy. There's always the pressure of being in that situation, so I think it's quite normal."
City’s win over Tottenham makes them big favourites to win the title, with the Opta supercomputer giving them an 84.3 per cent chance of lifting the Premier League trophy once more.
During their victory at the Tottenham Hotspur stadium, sections of the crowd cheered Erling Haaland’s opener by doing the Poznan, a celebration often used by the City fans, as the result shifted the title race out of their North London rivals' favour.
Asked if he had ever played in an environment like that before, De Bruyne added: "I think it's strange, but I didn't feel it from a players perspective.
"I have to say I thought Tottenham were really good, I think they played better than they did the weeks before.
"Fans are always a different thing, but I feel it's more feeding from outside, I never thought that from the players' or coaches' perspective, they would not come and give their best. That's the only thing we worry about."
Italy forward Zaniolo to miss Euro 2024 due to foot injury
Italy forward Nicolo Zaniolo will miss Euro 2024 after suffering a foot injury during Aston Villa's Premier League draw with Liverpool on Monday.
Zaniolo – who joined Unai Emery's side on a season-long loan from Galatasaray last August – came on as a second-half substitute as they fought back from 3-1 down to clinch a 3-3 draw at Villa Park.
That result moved Villa closer to securing Champions League qualification, which was confirmed when Tottenham lost 2-0 at home to Manchester City on Tuesday.
Zaniolo only lasted 14 minutes following his 65th-minute introduction before being withdrawn himself, though, and scans have shown he sustained a microfracture to his foot.
The 24-year-old has now confirmed he will be unable to feature in Italy's title defence at the Euros, with their Group B campaign set to begin against Albania on June 15.
In a post to his Instagram account, Zaniolo wrote: "Thank you for your support in these hours, to you Villans and to the many Italian and Turkish fans. I can't wait to get back on the field stronger than before!
"Unfortunately, I will have to give up my dream of representing my country in a major competition. But that day will come, I'm sure, and it will be beautiful! Come on Azzurri!"
Zaniolo also missed Italy's triumphant run at the delayed Euro 2020 three years ago as he was recovering from a ruptured cruciate ligament.
Arsenal's decision to let Miedema leave 'shocking and outrageous', says White
Arsenal's decision to let Vivianne Miedema leave the club has been described as "shocking" and "outrageous" by former Gunners striker Ellen White.
On Monday, Arsenal announced Miedema – the all-time record scorer in the Women's Super League with 79 goals in the competition – will depart when her contract expires at the end of the campaign.
Miedema helped Arsenal win the WSL title in 2018-19 and clinched the competition's Golden Boot in back-to-back seasons in 2018-19 and 2019-20. In all competitions, she has scored 125 goals and added 50 assists in 172 appearances for the Gunners since arriving from Bayern Munich in 2017.
She has played just 13 games in 2023-24, however, having undergone knee surgery in March. That came after an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury suffered in December 2022 sidelined her for 10 months.
Manchester City have been linked with a move for the Netherlands star, and White believes Arsenal will regret letting her go.
"I think it's an absolutely shocking decision by the club, to be honest," White told BBC Radio 5 Live's Women's Football Weekly.
"I just think it's shocking that they haven't shown her the love to want to keep her at the club.
"If she does want to go to someone else in the WSL, I hope she goes to that team and sticks two fingers up at Arsenal and scores a few goals and celebrates hard. It's just outrageous. She is not going to be short of offers."
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