Which Spain's U21 generations are the best?

Five European Under-21 Championships have been played in the last eight years, including this current edition, and the most consistent threat across all of those tournaments is Spain.

Over the last decade, Spain's Under-21s have won the trophy on two occasions and reached the final a further two times. La Rojita are set to face Germany on Sunday, while the other final they disputed and failed to win also came against Germany in 2015.

These four Spain squads that have reached the final have featured some brilliant footballers, but which generation is the best?

2011 European Under-21 Championship in Denmark

Luis Milla was the coach in charge of this Spain side as they reached the final and beat Switzerland 2-0 to earn a place at the 2012 Olympics in London.

David de Gea was the starting goalkeeper and in front of him, he had Martin Montoya, Alvaro Dominguez, Alberto Botia and Didac Vila, while Cesar Azpilicueta, Mikel San Jose, Victor Ruiz and Jose Angel were the defensive options on the bench.

The midfield was full of future elite players as Ander Herrera, Thiago, Javi Martinez, Juan Mata - who was named Player of the Tournament - and Iker Muniain all started. In reserve, they had Dani Parejo and Ruben Perez.

In hindsight the attack was a little underwhelming, but they played well during this tournament nonetheless. The forward that led the line for Spain at the end of the tournament was Adrian Lopez, who replaced Bojan Krkic in the starting line-up. As back-ups, there was Jeffren Suarez, Diego Capel and Emilio Nsue.

After a good group stage in which the only lost points came with a draw to England, Spain beat Belarus in the semi-final after extra time before beating the Swiss in the final.

2013 European Under-21 Championship in Israel

Spain played Italy in the final and won 4-2, having swept through the tournament until that point. Thiago was the nation's star player, winning the Player of the Tournament award, and with the deadly Alvaro Morata in attack, nobody could come close to La Rojita.

Julen Lopetegui had replaced Luis Milla, and his line-up in the final was: De Gea; Montoya, Marc Bartra, Inigo Martinez, Alberto Moreno; Asier Illarramendi, Koke; Cristian Tello, Thiago, Isco; Morata.

Also in the squad were Joel Robles and Diego Marino as back-up goalkeepers, while Dani Carvajal, Nacho, Alvaro Gonzalez and Marc Muniesa were the cover in defence. Sergio Canales had to leave the camp due to an injury, leaving Ignacio Camacho and Pablo Sarabia as the midfield options. The forwards who stayed on the bench for the final were Muniain, Alvaro Vazquez and Rodrigo Moreno.

2017 European Under-21 Championship in Poland

The possibility of a third trophy in the space of four tournaments slipped away at the last minute. Germany won 1-0 and were the more convincing of the two sides in the final.

There was another change of head coach by this point as Albert Celades was the man in charge and it was almost an entirely new squad. His choices in goal were Pau Lopez, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Ruben Blanco, and in defence he started with Hector Bellerin, Jesus Vallejo, Jorge Mere and Jonny Otto, leaving Jose Gaya, Alvaro Odriozola and Diego Gonzalez as the back-up defensive options.

Marcos Llorente accompanied Saul Niguez and Dani Ceballos in midfield, which meant that Denis Suarez, Rodri Hernandez, Mikel Merino and Carlos Soler were all on the bench. For the final against Germany, Celades picked Gerard Deulofeu, Sandro Ramirez and Marco Asensio as his forward trident, so Inaki Williams and Borja Mayoral had to watch on from the sidelines.

2019 European Under-21 Championship in Italy

The squad that has gone to Italy may have less star names than in the three aforementioned tournaments, but it could be the side that plays the best football. After stumbling in the opening match against the hosts, Luis de la Fuente - the U21 head coach since 2018 - made a couple of changes to the line-up and La Rojita have not looked back since.

The XI for the semi-final against France on Thursday night was: Antonio Sivera; Martin Agirregabiria, Unai Nunez, Jesus Vallejo, Junior Firpo; Fabian Ruiz, Marc Roca; Dani Olmo, Dani Ceballos, Pablo Fornals; Mikel Oyarzabal.

The back-up goalkeepers are Unai Simon and Dani Martin, and in defence there is Pol Lirola, Jorge Mere and Aaron Martin. The options in midfield are Mikel Merino, Igor Zubeldia and Carlos Soler. Finally, the possible changes in attack are Manu Vallejo, Borja Mayoral, Rafa Mir and Alfonso Pedraza.