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Spain entered their final Nations League A Group 4 match against Switzerland at Estadio de Tenerife knowing that they had already secured the top spot in the standings. However, getting a win remained crucial for the visitors as they knew that a win for them and a loss for Serbia against Denmark would save them from automatic relegation.
Despite playing a heavily rotated squad, Spain started the match strong through the first 30 minutes but were not able to challenge Switzerland goalkeeper Yvan Mvogo until they were handed a penalty after Alvaro Morata was brought down in the box by Ricardo Rodriguez. The Spain captain handed the penalty duty to the Canary Islands native Pedri to score in front of his home crowd, however, the Barcelona star was unable to beat Mvogo. The clearance then fell to Nico Williams, whose shot at goal was blocked by the Swiss defence. Luckily for Luis de la Fuente’s men, the ball fell straight at Yeremy Pino’s feet as he finally put it into the back of the net.
Just a few minutes later, Pedri was brought down by a terrible challenge from Miro Muheim as the midfielder took the full brunt of the Swiss defender’s studs on his knee. Luckily, the youngster was able to continue after a few minutes of treatment by the medical staff.
The second half saw a similar calm start by La Roja. However, after the Spain defensive line was caught out by a perfect ball in behind, Joel Monteiro had the perfect opportunity to bring Switzerland level but failed to test Robert Sanchez in goal. The Young Boys forward had his moment just after the hour mark, however, as he dribbled past three La Roja defenders and managed to slot the ball in between Sanchez’s legs to bring Switzerland level with Spain.
Nonetheless, Rossocrociati were not able to keep level for too long as former Tottenham Hotspur star Bryan Gil had his own moment of brilliance in Mvogo’s box as he stole the ball off Monteiro and took a few quick touches to open up enough space for himself to rip an unstoppable shot past the helpless Swiss goalkeeper.
The game had a few more twists up its sleeve as just a few minutes away from the 90th minute of the game, Fabian Ruiz caught Vincent Sierro with a high boot as he attempted to clear the bouncing ball in Spain’s box. Andi Zeqiri was able to beat Sanchez from the spot to bring Switzerland level for the second time on the night.
La Roja were then able to shift into another gear and Bayern Munich loanee Bryan Zaragoza was able to get Sierro to catch him on the leg in the Swiss box, and the referee pointed to the spot for the third time in the match. Zaragoza was quick to claim the penalty for himself and smashed the spot kick past Mvogo to give Spain their 14th win of the season.
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Getty Images SportTHE MVP
Marc Casado and Alejandro Grimaldo were on song for De la Fuente’s side on a night that saw a heavily rotated squad take to the field. Casado has been on top form all season long for Barcelona as their main pivot and received his first call-up for the national team this month. After making his debut as a substitute against Denmark, he was given his first start and was quick to settle into the side, control the tempo and link the defence and midfield together, while providing optimal security to Pau Cubarsi and Aitor Paredes’ backline.
Grimaldo, on the other hand, showed exactly why he is rated so highly by Xabi Alonso at Bayer Leverkusen as the Spaniard kept bombarding Switzerland’s defence from the left and was also able to link up with Williams on numerous occasions. While he couldn’t score or assist at Estadio de Tenerife, he managed to keep the side ticking through the clash.
THE BIG LOSER
Sanchez has not had the best time so far this season at Chelsea as the goalkeeper was on the end of a number of mistakes for the Blues. However, with Spain’s number one Unai Simon out for the season, he had the chance to impress De la Fuente to pick him over David Raya and Alex Remiro for the Nations League knockouts. Nonetheless, he was unable to shift into a form as he came on as a second-half substitute for Remiro. The Chelsea keeper was beaten easily through his legs by Monterio for the first Swiss goal and was then made another mistake soon after as he spilt an easy cross but was saved by an alert Cubarsi, who cleared the ball out of danger.
WHAT COMES NEXT?
Spain will now have to wait until November 22 to figure out who they will face off against next in the quarter-final of the Nations League. However, they know that thanks to their group win, Spain will play at home in the second leg as a way to give some advantage to the group winners.
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AFPMATCH RATING (OUT OF FIVE): ⭐⭐⭐⭐
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