In June 2019, Sweden lost to Spain 0-3 in the European Championship qualifiers. Then Victor Claesson was forced to retire after getting a kick on the calf by Jordi Alba. The kick made the leg move, and later it turned out that the cruciate ligament was off. Claesson was away for over a year, and when he jumped in for 20 minutes against Spain in this summer’s European Championship, it was the first time he was faced with Jordi Alba after that blow in 2019.
But during that jump-in, they did not have time to bump into each other so much because they were not on the same edge.
But in Thursday’s 2-1 victory against Spain, Claesson started and played the entire match, and that as a right midfielder, something that made him face left-back Alba.
– I was a bit in the European Championships as well, so then I had to play against him. So now I did not think it felt so special. It was more special in the European Championships, says Claesson to Fotbollskanalen.
At one point, Claesson ran up and pressed against Alba. The Spanish defender hit the ball away and then Claesson made a throw and kicked to Alba who collapsed.
When Fotbollskanalen asks if there is any resentment, Claesson answers:
– I was on and fiddled with him there once, then he was not completely satisfied. But I escaped warning anyway. I would not give back for something old, it felt like we were pushed back and needed to breathe a little.
Would you have been surprised if it got a yellow card there?
– No, maybe not. But at the beginning of matches, the referees usually hold back a bit with warnings.
Considering that it was against Spain in particular that Claesson injured himself, it was extra nice to be able to decide Thursday’s match.
– It felt a bit like a revenge personally to be able to decide against Spain, which I was injured against. So that was extra fun.
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