The Spaniards, after a successful European Championship, suddenly drew with Serbia in the Nations League. Can you imagine how angry they were with Switzerland? But Murat Yakin’s team has repeatedly shown that it is not at all afraid of the favourites. Rubilovo turned out to be noble.
The Swiss were without Xhaka and Elvedi, who were sent off in the match against Denmark (0-2). Spain lost the injured Olmo. But Barça fans need not panic: Dani was spared a serious injury and will miss at most one more match. But Pedri, who was brought down by Kroos in the quarter-finals of the European Championship, returned to base: with the Serbians, De la Fuente trusted him only to come on at the end.
Europe’s best team immediately got to work. In the fourth minute, Yamal terrified Freuler with feints and sent the ball to the far post, where Joselu competently nodded in. The dog saved the strike, but the ball had already crossed the line. If Switzerland had a containment plan, it urgently needed to be changed.
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And it worked! The next attack brought a goal! Embolo ran down the left flank and fired a fine cross towards Omeragić. But Galya burst into the chat and cancelled everything: during the attack, Freuler played with his hand.
But Yamal, Williams and Ruiz did everything within the rules a few minutes later. The first played well on the interception and gave a great pass to the second, who ran into the box, beat Wüthrich and shot, and the third finished off after a save by Kobel.
The video rights belong to Okko.
It was 13 minutes. Those who at that moment thought of the funeral of the intrigue and turned off the broadcast probably regretted it. Because in the 21st minute, Le Normand committed a foul in a one-on-one with Embolo. The main referee immediately gave a red card. His colleagues at the VAR spent a long time checking the episode and still confirmed the decision.
Amdouni hit the crossbar with a free kick! Raya could do nothing there. It’s hot! A disallowed goal, a goal frame: Switzerland was frankly unlucky. Well, at least the elimination was not cancelled. De la Fuente had to replace Pedri with Vivian. The Barça talent once again played little.
Even in the minority, the European champions did not hesitate to attack. The bus tactic, even with a 10-on-11 game and a comfortable lead, is not a Spanish story at all. But Switzerland is still densely populated by them. Raya took a strong volley from Vargas, but the corner proved effective: Embolo stepped forward and deflected the ball to Amdouni, who recovered the distance. It would have been offside, but Grimaldo was protecting the near post.
The video rights belong to Okko.
At the end of the first half’s added time, the ball also hit Yamal on the hand. Yakin’s boys furiously demanded a penalty. VAR verdict: useless.
Switzerland continued to press and scored again at the start of the second half. Again, breaking the rules. Vargas took the corner, Amnudi shot and Vivian’s rebound led to a goal. However, during the kick-off the ball went out of bounds. Perhaps the Swiss should go to church? With their luck.
However, the home side had few more chances. Spain defended competently. De la Fuente’s change of team also helped: the coach refreshed the squad and took off Yamal, Williams and Rodri, leaving Torres, Sudimendi and Pino free until the 58th minute.
How many times have you seen Spain have the ball only 36% of the time? The reason is clear. However, the best team in Europe adjusted and not only maintained the handicap, but also increased it. Twice! In three minutes!
In the 77th minute, Raya shared the ball with Ferran with a long-range shot for the latter to assist the lonely Ruiz. And then Joselu caught the counterattack and sent the same Ferran on the run, who did everything correctly at speed. And he even somehow cynically implemented this one-on-one approach from the centre of the field. Well, aren’t they geniuses?
The video rights belong to Okko.
Switzerland played most of the match and lost in a devastating manner. Can you blame them for this? You are welcome. Spain is simply unstoppable. Sometimes they are unlucky, as is the case with the Serbians. And yet, this almost never happens.
In the same group, the Serbs faced the Danes:
A masterpiece goal in the Nations League. Unprincipled Serbia will remember these “scissors” for a long time
