The Nations League matches in League A have concluded.
The League of Nations has begun. In the top division of the tournament, League A, four matches were played, in Groups 1 and 4.
The Spanish national team played its first match as winner of Euro 2024. The strongest team in Europe went to Belgrade to visit the Serbian national team, which, frankly, failed at the last Euro. And this was not a friendly, but the opening match of the Nations League in Group 4 of League A.
Presentation of the Champions
The changes in the composition of the Spaniards were minimal. The main goalkeeper Unai Simon was injured, but Chelsea’s Robert Sanchez recovered and returned to duty. But the goal was not entrusted to him, but to Arsenal goalkeeper David Raya. Captain Alvaro Morata was not in the team. Luis de la Fuente also brought with him several players who did not have enough space in the Euros squad: Celta defender Oscar Mingueza, former captain of Girona, and more recently Bayer midfielder Aleisha Garcia, his colleague in the role of Pepel (Valencia), and Villarreal striker Jeremi Pinault.
Zenit player Strahinja Erakovic came on for the Serbian team. Spartak’s Srdjan Babic remained on reserve. Erakovic received a yellow card in the fifth minute for a hard attack on Dani Olmo.
The Spaniards controlled the ball more in the first half – 72% against 28%. However, the Serbs were sharper. Luka Jovic could score twice. But in the first case he pushed Robin Le Norman, but Raya eliminated the threat with a timely shot at his feet. And in the second case Jovic shot wide from an advantageous position. During the break between these episodes, Ajose Perez, who replaced Morata in attack, shot dangerously towards the home goal. Predrag Rajkovic first hit the ball and then covered it. Then Raya helped Veljko Birmancevic after a shot.
After the first half – 0:0. Erakovic did not appear in the second half. Apparently Dragan Stojkovic thought that Strahinja could receive a second yellow card and decided not to risk it. Jan-Carlo Simic appeared on the pitch.
Lots of effort and two zeros
In the second half, the Spanish looked much more interesting. And they were much more dangerous to attack. Dani Carvajal headed a free kick from Lamin Yamal. The ball went over the goal. The Serbian team responded with a determined attack. Dani Olmo violated the rules on the penalty line. The referee decided there was no penalty and opted for a free kick. Well, yellow card for the new arrival of Barcelona.
The home team learned nothing from this penalty. And the Spanish national team took matters into their own hands. Alejandro Grimaldo deflected the ball into the corner from a free kick. Raikovich struck the ball for Yamal, but the young hero of the European Championship failed to put the ball into the net in two attempts. Then Lamin was again close to success. Once again Raikovich came to the rescue.
Perhaps if the Spaniards had started their attack earlier, they would have put the Serbian team under pressure. The result was 0:0, which was very pleasing to the home team. Although the Serbs could also count on the victory, Jovic to be more precise. But Luka showed once again why his game in Real Madrid did not work. Namely due to the lack of composure in the final attacks.
David Raya successfully replaced Unai Simon in goal, as evidenced by the zero in the final report. But the Spaniards clearly missed Alvaro Morata. Ajose Perez is still more of a winger than a central striker. It is no surprise that he was replaced 11 minutes after half-time by left-back Grimaldo. Those who worked hard were close to success, but did not take advantage of their chance.
In the second match of this group, the teams from Denmark and Switzerland met. Patrick Dorgu and Pierre-Emile Hojbjerg scored. The visitors finished the match with nine players. Nico Elvedi and Granit Xhaka were shown red cards.
Historic day for Ronaldo
Meanwhile, in Lisbon, in Group 1 of League A, the national teams of Portugal and Croatia met, who wanted to forget the European Championship as soon as possible. The Croatians, like the Serbs, did not leave the group and returned home earlier than expected. The Spanish neighbors, the Portuguese, reached the quarterfinals, but received some criticism when the teams of Serbia and Croatia joined forces. It was especially hard for Cristiano Ronaldo, who did not score a single goal in Germany. The Portuguese captain was rightly criticized for taking control of the team’s game.
Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo has 899 career goals. One might expect an anniversary tonight. And it is the Portuguese number seven who almost scores his first goal against the Croatians in the fifth minute. Bruno Fernandes completes the attack, but Dominik Livakovic parries the ball.
And two minutes later the home team takes the lead. And Diogo Dalot scored during the main holidays. And so we created the conditions for this very holiday. And it has arrived. In the 34th minute, Cristiano Ronaldo opens up to the pass of Nuno Mendes and scores a precise shot: 2:0. There are nine hundred heads!
Before the break, Dalot scored another goal. But this time it was an own goal, which gave the Croatians the chance to regain the lead in the second half – 2:1.
After the break, Cristiano Ronaldo started counting his ten hundred goals, but had to postpone until next time. In addition, the Croatians had a couple of chances to reduce the match to a draw. But the first half score does not change.
The second match of Group 1 of League A was played in Glasgow. The Poles beat Scotland 2-0 thanks to goals from Sebastian Szymanski and Robert Lewandowski. Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay levelled the score, but in the seventh minute of added time Nikola Zalewski gave the victory to the Poles.
