European champions held by Serbia

European Champions Spain were held to a goalless draw in their first match since their Euros finals triumph against England in July after their UEFA Nations League fixture against Serbia on Thursday ended in a 0-0 scoreline.

The hosts on the night, Serbia, started the new Nations League campaign on a positive note but hasn’t won a game in their last four after three draws and a loss.

Luis de la Fuente’s starting 11 in Belgrade was unable to score or beat a team that only scored once at the Euros, where they exited from the group stage. It wasn’t because of a lack of chances, but Serbia just couldn’t make decisive use of the chances they created early in the game. 

Serbia favored the counter-attacking style and always tried to catch Spain out, but efforts from the likes of Saša Lukić, Ivan Ilić, and Luka Jović failed to find the target. When La Roja found their footing, they looked to create chances, but Martin Zubimendi had the best opportunity for the visitors during the half hour of the opening.

However, he was only able to force a save from Predrag Rajković as Spain piled in more pressure before the break but without a breakthrough. In the second half, Fabián Ruiz and Robin Le Normand had chances before the hour mark, only to shoot wide of the target.

The last time Spain failed to score a goal within the regular ninety minutes was at the UEFA Nations League final last year, and that was what happened on Thursday night, despite the best efforts of Lamine Yamal, who had two chances of his own.

In the end, the points were shared as Spain failed to find the breakthrough, with Serbia winning a point against one of the best teams in international football in the last 12 months, including some of the world’s most in-form players.