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In the first edition of the Nations League, Switzerland reached the Final Four tournament as group winners and finished fourth behind Portugal, Holland and England. Such an exploit should not be expected in the second issue.
Switzerland was drawn into a hammer group. The opponents are Ukraine, Germany and Spain. That our national team would like to say hello from the top of the table and reach the final four tournament again would be a sensation. It’s much more about not finishing last and thus preventing relegation to League B. This is important because you can only compete with absolutely top teams in League A. In League B, teams like Northern Ireland, Scotland and Bulgaria are currently playing – for Nati fans too, appearances in the Nations League would lose a lot of their attractiveness. In the following we take a closer look at the Swiss national team and their opponents.
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What do you trust the Swiss national team to do in the Nations League?
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Swiss national team starts with rump troop
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At the first event, the game was played in groups of three, so in the end Switzerland only got one Exploit against Belgiumto qualify as group winners for the final tournament in June 2019. There it suffered two defeats in the semifinals against eventual winners Portugal (1: 3) and in the game for third place against England (5: 6 after penalties). For the European Championship, which should actually have taken place this summer, Switzerland qualified as group winners, even though they only got one point against Denmark (3: 3, 0: 1). Our national team has not made any slip-ups against “little ones” for a long time, but there are now three tough chunks waiting in the Nations League. The fact that Switzerland has to do without several established players in the opener against Ukraine makes the situation even more complicated than it already is.
Ukraine is brimming with confidence
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After the group was eliminated at the EM 2016, the former world-class player Andriy Shevchenko took over the coaching position. He missed the 2018 World Cup, but in the subsequent European Championship qualification the team convinced across the board and qualified as group winners before Portugal for the finals without losing a single game. At home games, Shevchenko’s men always left the field as winners. Around half of the players are under contract with Shakhtar Donetsk, the semi-finalists of the Europa League. That the Ukrainians take the tournament seriously and have great ambitions is also shown by the fact that the team has been training together since the week before last. In order to kidnap three points from the Ukraine, the national team has to deliver a top game.
Reinvigorated Germany is beatable
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After the failed 2018 World Cup, the Germans also suffered a bitter defeat in the Nations League. Jogi Löw’s team finished last in the group with France and Holland and was relegated from League A. Only thanks to a change of mode and the associated increase in League A from 12 to 16 teams, Germany can now compete in the top division. That they definitely belong there, too, was shown in the subsequent European Championship qualification, which they confidently finished as group winners before Holland. The upheaval initiated after the 2018 World Cup seems to be slowly but surely bearing fruit.
However, Löw now grants some regular workers special leave. The Champions League winners Bayern Munich are missing Manuel Neuer, Joshua Kimmich, Leon Goretzka and Serge Gnabry, and the semi-finalists RB Leipzig are Lukas Klostermann and Marcel Halstenberg. Bayern players Thomas Müller and Jérôme Boateng are no longer part of the DFB team anyway. Löw doesn’t have to do without a Bayern player: Leroy Sané (moved from ManCity to Munich) and Niklas Süle are there, both of whom only returned from torn cruciate ligaments in the last few weeks.
Löw will not be able to draw on the full, even in the goalie position. Because Marc-André ter Stegen, who would have been in goal in the absence of Neuer, had an operation on the patellar tendon after the season and is out for a long time. With Arsenal keeper Bernd Leno, Kevin Trapp (Frankfurt) and Oliver Baumann (Hoffenheim) there are three more than solid keepers available. Because of all the absences it is clear: Germany can be beaten – if not now, then when?
Spain: Big goals despite radical makeover
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For the Spaniards, it is probably no disadvantage that the EM was postponed by a year. Because at the end of last year Robert Moreno had to give way to his predecessor Luis Enrique after having easily reached the European Championship – the whole thing triggered an earthquake in Spain.
In the meantime this gossip is a long way off and so the focus is again on the sporty. And then the new old coach, whose daughter died almost exactly a year ago at the age of only nine, surprises with his nomination. There are seven newcomers in the squad on his comeback. “I don’t look at age,” said Enrique, explaining his decision, saying about the 17-year-old talent Ansu Fati: “He has the necessary quality, he has excellent statistics. Only Lionel Messi was even better at Barcelona at that age. ” But some big names are missing from the line-up, such as Jordi Alba (Barcelona), Isco (Real Madrid), Alvaro Morata and Saúl (both Atlético). But it doesn’t work entirely without the “old hands”. The selection is led by defense boss Sergio Ramos (34) and the 29-year-old triple winner Thiago. Barcelona’s Sergio Busquets (32) is also there.
In 2008 and 2012 Spain won the European Championship and in 2010 the World Cup. The 50-year-old does not want to compare his team with those of the “golden generation”, but he has big ideas in mind: “At the European Championships next year, our goal is to win the title!” He wants to lay the foundation stone on the way there in the Nations League. The games are “very important” because as a national coach you don’t have that many appointments to work with the team. “There are games like this, at such a level, a good opportunity for us.”
Due to the incredible density of top players, Spain must be one of the top favorites in the Nations League, as well as at the EM next year. The only question that arises is whether the break will be possible at the express speed of the train. Switzerland meets Spain on October 10th.
