Switzerland Vs Spain: La Roja Wants To Return To The Way Of Victory

JAKARTA - Spain will try to return to winning ways on Sunday, September 8 when Luis de la Fuente and his team continue the 2024-25 UEFA Nations League campaign against Switzerland.

The reigning champions were held to a goalless draw by Serbia in their opening campaign on Thursday, September 5 while Switzerland lost 2-0 to Denmark, who currently lead Group 4 of Liga A.

Switzerland started their first match since the penalty shootout loss to England in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals on Thursday night against Denmark in the Nations League. Despite almost ending a goalless draw, Denmark scored twice in the last ten minutes to win 2-0, making Switzerland who lost Nico Elvedi and Granit Xhaka sent off, in the group's bottom position.

Swiss coach Murat Yakin has directed his team to take their first points in Group 4 of Liga A on Sunday night, before returning to play in October against Serbia and Denmark. Switzerland previously defeated Spain 2-1 in their final meeting in the League of Nations in September 2022, although they have won only two of their previous 25 matches against Spain since June 1925.

Meanwhile, Spain coach Luis de la Fuente revealed that he was "not worried" about a goalless draw against Serbia, calling it "like a pre-season game." La Roja showed better performance in the game but failed to score, leaving them in third place in the group with one point.

Spain have not gone through the last 16 of the World Cup since their 2010 win, but they won the European Cup this summer by beating England and winning at the Paris Olympics. La Roja are also champions of the Nations League, beating Croatia in the final of June 2023, so they are in a new golden period.

Spain have been unbeaten since their friendly defeat against Colombia in March, and they have not lost a competitive match since March 2023. While it is difficult to draw conclusions from international matches at this stage, Spain will strive to return to winning ways on Sunday before their third match in the group against Denmark on October 12.

Swiss coach, Yakin, will make at least two changes to this match as Elvedi and Xhaka are suspended after their red card against Denmark. Gregory Wuthrich and Denis Zakaria are expected to replace them, while the rest will likely remain the same as the team that played against Denmark.

Breel Embolo, who has scored 15 goals for his country, will return to the lead with Fabian Rieder and Ruben Vargas also expected to operate in the offensive area.

Di sisi la, De la Fuente diperkirakan akan melakukan perubahan untuk pertandingan ini, di mana Pedri dan Alejandro Grimaldo kemungkinan akan dipasuk ke dalam tim. Marc Cucurella dan Ayoze Perez bisa menjadi pemain yang akan dikeluarkan, sementara Dani Olmo mungkin dipindahkan ke posisi false nine, dengan Lamine Yamal dan Nico Williams melanjutkan di sayap.

Mikel Oyarzabal, who scored the winning goal in the Euro 2024 final against England, is also a consideration for De la Fuente for the attack position. David Raya is expected to remain Spain's main goalkeeper, as Unai Simon is sidelined by injury.

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