Because Serbia equalized shortly before the end: Switzerland relegated from the Nations League

Granit Xhaka in the stranglehold of Serbia’s Nikola Milenkovic

KEYSTONE

Switzerland are relegated to League B for the first time in the fourth edition of the Nations League. The 1:1 draw against Serbia at the Letzigrund in Zurich sealed the fate of coach Murat Yakin’s team.

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Switzerland were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Serbia in the Nations League and have been relegated ahead of their final game in Spain on Monday.
Zeki Amdouni put Switzerland ahead after 79 minutes at the Letzigrund in Zurich. In the 88th minute, the Serbs equalized through a counter-attack.
Switzerland had more possession in front of goal and a slight advantage in chances, but also had a penalty saved by Gregor Kobel.

They were looking for the 2:0, they threw everything forward. The Swiss needed a second goal to overtake Serbia in the table and have a chance of securing their place in the league on their own in the final round on Monday. In the end, it was too much of a risk. In the 88th minute, the Serbs launched a counter-attack after a corner kick, which Aleksa Terzic finished off with a shot into the net. A stab in the heart for the Swiss and a finish that was in keeping with their unsuccessful campaign in the Nations League.

The goal was also bitter for Gregor Kobel, who conceded at least one goal in his tenth international match and could have been the hero of the game. In the 55th minute, he had kept Switzerland in the game with a sensational save. He saved Aleksandar Mitrovic’s penalty with his foot thanks to a strong reflex save. Cheers erupted in the Letzigrund, Kobel pointed to his head with his fingers and spurred on his teammates: Now it was purely a matter of heads.

And the story was almost crowned just four minutes later. Zeki Amdouni was free to shoot after a cross from the left. However, the Geneva player failed to beat Serbia goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic with his shot from around six meters. It should have been the lead and could have shifted the momentum completely to Switzerland’s side.

Amdouni briefly restores hope

However, the Swiss were forced to keep going. And just when it looked as if they would simply not succeed on this evening, Amdouni struck. After a cross from Ricardo Rodriguez, Remo Freuler laid off to the 23-year-old, who rewarded his strong performance with the redeeming goal in the 79th minute to make it 1:0. Amdouni is now responsible for three of the four goals in the Nations League this fall.

Well played, not won again - despite Gregor Kobel's penalty save — Well played, not won again – despite Gregor Kobel’s penalty save

KEYSTONE

In the end, however, the “what if” question remained. What if the ball had landed in the net from Noah Okafor’s thigh in the 28th minute instead of on the crossbar? What if Amdouni had scored in the 59th minute? What if Edimilson Fernandes’ shot in the 82nd minute had landed in the goal instead of bouncing off the post?

The actions show: The Swiss braced themselves against relegation from League A. However, they once again lacked the necessary luck and composure. They got themselves into this unfortunate situation through inadequate performances, including in the away game against Serbia.

No reconciliation with the Letzigrund

In the end, the Swiss were left with nothing but disappointment. Reconciliation with the Letzigrund in Zurich, where the last victory was 17 years ago and where the national team had already suffered a number of disappointments, failed to materialize.

At the end of the group stage, Switzerland will face European champions Spain away from home on Monday. In the insignificant match on Tenerife, the national team can at least bring the unsuccessful campaign to a conciliatory close. The first games of the World Cup qualifiers will then begin in March, when Yakin’s team will have to show a different face.

Switzerland – Serbia 1:1 (0:0)

Zurich. – 21’115 spectators. – SR Turpin (FRA). – Goals: 79. Amdouni (Freuler) 1:0. 88. Terzic (Mitrovic) 1:1.

Switzerland: Kobel; Fernandes (83. Mbabu), Cömert, Amenda, Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka; Rieder (66. Monteiro), Amdouni, Okafor (66. Kutesa), Embolo (66. Zeqiri).

Serbia: Petrovic; Veljkovic, Milenkovic, Babic (46. Stojic); Zivkovic (78. Nedeljkovic), Nemanja Maksimovic, Gudelj, Terzic (89. Zdjelar); Samardzic (72. Topic), Vlahovic, Mitrovic (90. Maksimovic).

Remarks: Switzerland without Elvedi (suspended/injured), Akanji and Ndoye (both injured), among others. Serbia without Erakovic, Pavlovic (both suspended) and Rajkovic (injured). 55. foul penalty by Mitrovic saved by Kobel. Cautions: 25 for Terzic, 35 for Xhaka, 51 for Embolo (suspended for next match), 51 for Zivkovic, 54 for Cömert.

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95.

Final whistle at the Letzigrund

Turpin blows the final whistle. Switzerland are relegated from Group A of the Nations League after the 1-1 draw. Somehow, today’s performance was emblematic of the whole campaign.

88.

Goal Serbia 1:1

The Swiss press for the second goal, but the Serbs score practically out of nowhere. The Yakin team are brutally outplayed: Terzic is able to run in alone on goal and Kobel has no chance against the well-placed shot. Bitter for Switzerland, who came very close to scoring a second goal on several occasions.

82.

Switzerland hit the post

The second goal for the Swiss comes close. Fernandes takes a shot from 2o0 meters, his slightly deflected low shot lands at the left post – guest goalie Petrovic would have been powerless.

78.

Goal Switzerland 1:0

Now it has finally happened. A Rodriguez cross finds Freuler in the penalty area, who cleverly crosses the ball with his head. Amdouni doesn’t need to be asked twice to hit the ball into the top right corner. A great goal from the Swiss.

76.

Nati narrowly miss the goal again

The strong Amdouni dribbles through on the left and penetrates into the penalty area. Monteiro, who is still under pressure from an opponent, is unable to deflect his low cross as he should. The ball rolls just past the far post. Another great opportunity missed.

70.

Vlahovic’s shot narrowly misses the goal

The Juve striker gets to the ball on the right side of the penalty area, Vlahovic is accompanied by Amenda, but he is still able to get the ball on target with his strong left foot. His shot narrowly misses the crossbar. Little was missing.

66.

Triple substitution for the Swiss

Monteiro, Zeqiri and Kutesa come on for Okafor, Embolo and Rieder. Yakin brings on fresh forces in the final half hour to try and secure the win.

59.

Amdouni misses the lead from close range

After a cross into the penalty area, the ball is suddenly ready for a shot in front of the Serbia goal. Amdouni shoots with brute force, but the Serbian keeper Petrović speculates correctly and makes a strong save from just under six meters. The Benfica attacker had the Swiss goal at his feet. The chance was even better than the penalty!

55.

Kobel saves harmless attempt

The “fouled” Mitrovic makes his own run. However, his shot into the middle is rather harmless – Kobel is on his way to the right corner, but still manages to keep the ball out with his foot. Strong scene from the BVB goalie.

54.

Controversial penalty for the Serbs

Cömert and Mitrovic go one-on-one. The striker then simply drops in the penalty area, the referee falls for it and points to the spot. The Swiss protests are to no avail. To make matters worse, Cömert is cautioned.

51.

Scuffle at the Letzigrund

Embolo is unable to assert himself against two Serbs and is whistled back by the referee. The Monaco striker then shoots the ball at the Serbian, who is lying on the ground. The visitors want to tackle the offender immediately, causing a scuffle in the Letzigrund. But referee Turpin keeps his cool and shows Embolo a yellow card as well as a guest player. Unfortunately, Embolo is suspended for the next match.

45.

Interval at the Letzigrund

Turpin blows the whistle to end the first half. The Nati are doing a solid job here at the Letzigrund and were very unlucky with a shot off the crossbar from Okafor. The Serbs played a wait-and-see game, but showed that the Swiss could quickly become dangerous on the counter-attack. Unlike the national team, the visitors don’t have to play to win. Let’s see how much risk Yakin’s team take in the second half.

43.

Great combination goes unrewarded

Xhaka plays a high ball behind the chain, Okafor is able to lay the ball off with his head, but Amdouni’s shot from twelve meters is unfortunately too central. Too bad, this combination would have deserved a goal.

41.

Vlahovic misses a counter-attacking chance

After a mistake by Amenda, Vlahovic is able to make a run into the penalty area. Fortunately, Cömert is able to keep his foot in, otherwise the Serbs would have taken the lead.

37.

Nasty scene – Cömert and Maksimović collide

The Swiss defender Cömert’s head collides with Maksimović’s skull. While Cömert is able to get up again quickly, his opponent has to be tended to for longer. Fortunately, both can play on.

35.

Xhaka sees yellow

Xhaka gets into a duel with Mitrovic in the center circle. As his elbow lands in his opponent’s face, the Swiss captain is consequently cautioned – despite protests

28.

Okafor only hits the crossbar

After a beautifully executed attack, Fernandes receives the ball on the right edge of the penalty area, but Okafor is unable to control his slightly deflected pass into the five-yard box. The Milan professional hits the ball with his thigh – and the ball hits the crossbar instead of the goal from close range.

25.

Amdouni is brought down by Terzic

At the center circle, Terzic hits Amdouni’s thigh with an open sole – the yellow card for the Serbian is almost a reward. At least the Benfica legionnaire can play on.

24.

Vlahovic’s header just misses the post

The visitors’ first good action: after a cross into the penalty area, Vlahovic gets the better of Cömert in a duel, but his header just misses the post. Good luck to Switzerland!

19.

Nati still have room for improvement offensively

The Serbs are aggressive in the Letzigrund and are not afraid to stop Switzerland’s attacking efforts with fouls. As a result, the three strikers Embolo, Okafor and Amdouni are not yet given any space to search for depth. In any case, a visit to zone 3 is still a rarity.

15.

Fifteen minutes gone

The Nati are making a decent impression so far. The big chances are still missing, but the improvised defense is holding up so far. Among the spectators is Manuel Akanji – and FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

12.

Fernandes with a strong individual scene

Edimilson Fernandes, who plays at right-back in the back line, moves into the middle and tests the visiting goalkeeper for the first time with his left-footed shot, who manages to deflect the ball over the crossbar – a strong scene from the Brest professional.

Opening phase at eye level

The Swiss may have the ball a little more in their own ranks in the opening minutes, but the Serbs are holding their own. In particular, the two beefy strikers Vlahovic and Mitrovic are resolute in all tackles up front.

Kobel challenged for the first time

The two teams are not yet showing the same great quality on the pitch. At least Kobel is on the ball and sends a dangerous pass from the Serbs out to the side.

Kick-off at the Letzigrund

French referee Clément Turpin has blown the whistle. The conditions at the Letzigrund are nasty. The players have to run a lot to avoid getting cold.

The line-ups are out – Yakin opts for Okafor again

Murat Yakin will rely on Eray Cömert, Aurèle Amenda and Ricardo Rodriguez in defense. Noah Okafor gets another chance in left midfield. This is Amenda’s first ever game for the senior team. Cömert and Okafor are back in the starting eleven for the first time since March.

In the 3-4-3 system, Edimilson Fernandes will play on the right as he did against Denmark. Fabian Rieder will also start again. Granit Xhaka and Remo Freuler are set to play in central midfield. Breel Embolo and Zeki Amdouni are expected to provide a goal threat up front.

Serbian coach Dragan Stojkovic also relies on a strong attack. In addition to record goalscorer Aleksandar Mitrovic, returnee Dusan Vlahovic is also in the starting eleven.

Bencic and Golubic show the Nati how it’s done

Switzerland versus Serbia – it’s not just in football that this duel is taking place today. The Swiss women’s tennis team will also play Serbia in the Billie Jean King Cup play-off and will be the favorites on the first day of the clash.

First Belinda Bencic impresses across the board on her return to the team and wins 6:2, 6:2 against Lola Radivojevic, then Viktorija Golubic makes it 2:0 with a 6:2, 6:3 win against Mia Ristic, which is already a preliminary decision.

Two more singles matches and possibly a doubles match will follow on Saturday. The Swiss women still need a win to be able to take part in next year’s concert of the best nations. Read more here.

Belinda Bencic and Co. are doing well at the Billie Jean King Cup.

Keystone

Serbia coach Stojkovic: “Didn’t come to Zurich to take nice photos”

Serbia coach Dragan Stojkovic and striker Aleksandar Mitrovic talk about the upcoming task at the Letzigrund ahead of the clash with the national team.

Brecher on the Nati: “It will be difficult to end this campaign on a positive note”

As part of the reopening of the FCZ Museum, blue Sport goalie Yanick Brecher spoke about the Swiss national team and their relegation battle in the Nations League.

Widmer on not being called up: “I’m pretty disappointed”

Silvan Widmer has not been called up for the upcoming Nations League games. The right-back understands the decision of national team coach Murat Yakin, but is still disappointed, as he admits in an interview with blue Sport.

Ugrinic out against Serbia

As the federation announced on Friday morning, Filip Ugrinic will have to miss the game against Serbia. The 25-year-old is plagued by muscular complaints and is condemned to watch.

Schär: “Caught the right moment”

Newcastle professional Fabian Schär talks about his retirement from the national team after the European Championship in the football talk Heimspiel. The decision was definitely not easy for him.

The whole talk with Fabian Schär is also available as a podcast. It’s worth a listen.

Complicated starting position ahead of the final games

The Swiss national team is threatened with relegation to Group B of the Nations League. The Nati are three points off third place with two games to go. This difference must be made up in the direct duel against Serbia. The fact is: Switzerland must win against Serbia if they are to avoid relegation at all.

However, there is a scenario in which the national team could win both remaining matches and still be relegated. According to UEFA regulations, in the event of a tie on points, the direct matches between the teams with the same number of points decide in the first instance. Denmark currently have seven points and Serbia four. If the national team wins against Spain and Serbia and Denmark loses against Spain and Serbia, there will be three teams with seven points.

In this three-way battle with Denmark and Serbia, the Nati would lose out. With four points from the direct encounters, Switzerland would have fewer points than Denmark (seven points) and Serbia (six points).

All possible scenarios in the Nations League showdown can be found here.

Hello …

… and welcome to the live ticker for the match between Switzerland and Serbia. Kick-off at the Letzigrund is at 20:45. Find out everything you need to know about the landmark Nations League match here.

90.

Substitution in Serbia