Spain put aside the disappointment of Belgrade and overcame the expulsion of Le Normand to beat a feisty Switzerland in Geneva, with two goals disallowed.
Spain beat a renewed and weakened Switzerland in Geneva without knowing how, overwhelming them in search of a draw before two goals practically in succession from Fabián Ruiz and Ferran Torres turned a hard-fought 1-2 into an impressive 1-4 when a gruelling final stretch of the match was approaching for the European champions, who in the downpour finally recovered the smile they lost with the draw in Belgrade three days earlier.
Spain, the Euro champions, had no problems in defeating Switzerland on the road. Daniela Porcelli/Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images
Switzerland was without Granit Xhaka and Nico Elvedi, both of whom were sent off in Denmark last Thursday, and played its first home game since the withdrawal of Xherdan Shaqiri, Fabian Schär and Yan Sommer. A renewed, daring but inexperienced team, and also inferior due to the absences. And it put up a fight, until fortune dressed itself in the yellow of the Spanish national team to turn a narrow victory into a deceptive rout. But a superb one.
The European champions scored the 0-1 very early on, with their second chance in the home area and thanks to Joselu’s shot after an assist from Lamine Yamal. Then, the VAR came into action. First it ruled out Becir Omeragic’s equaliser for a previous handball and then, when Fabían Ruiz had already made it 0-2, it ordered Robin Le Normand to be sent off.
After that expulsion, in the 21st minute, the game changed. And the Spanish team went from a brilliant performance to an ever-increasing suffering, which became enormous in the second half, after reaching the break with a 1-2 scoreline, with Zeki Amdouni having reduced the comfortable Spanish advantage.
The second half was an exercise in survival with a euphoric ending for Spain. First, because another goal by Switzerland was disallowed (an own goal by Vivian) because the ball, as the referee determined, had gone out from the previous corner kick in the 51st minute. And then because, from that moment on, the Swiss pressure grew, just like the poor Spanish tactics, with the players falling further and further back and defending their minimal advantage as best they could in the deluge.
And when the equaliser was most feared, when Murat Yakin’s team was attacking the most, hanging balls into the area of the busy David Raya, the decisive blow came. The goalkeeper was agile and quick, serving a ball on goal in search of a counterattack, which Fabián Ruiz resolved by finishing off Ferran Torres’ assist to make it 1-3 in the 77th minute, freezing the local spirit.
And with barely any time to find their strength, Switzerland surrendered. Three minutes later, Ferran made it 1-4, assisted by Joselu, to close out a match as decisive as it was strange. Thus, Spain ended the Swiss national team’s streak at home, which had gone 12 games without defeat (seven wins and five draws), to beat them again as they did in June 2022, in their last visit in a match of the same UEFA Nations League. If then, in the same stadium in Geneva, a goal from Sarabia was enough for the team led by Luis Enrique, this time the victory had a much brighter outcome on the scoreboard than what was seen on the pitch.
