Switzerland disappointed across the board against Serbia and suffered their third defeat in a row.
Gregor Kobel is defeated: Shortly before the break, Serbia scores 1-0.
0:2 in Serbia, and that after a performance that didn’t start well and then got worse and worse: The Swiss footballers also lost their third game in the Nations League. After the successful European Championship, they slipped into a crisis.
Many security forces were on duty in Leskovac on Saturday evening. In the past there have been heated outbreaks at games between Serbia and Switzerland, at the 2018 World Cup in Russia and four years later in Qatar.
Politics was also always on the pitch in this duel, the conflict between the Serbs and the people from Kosovo, where the families of various Swiss footballers come from. In Leskovac, only Granit Xhaka is left of them, and of course all eyes are on the Swiss captain at the start.
Whistles for Xhaka
Both sides had confirmed in advance that this evening should only be about football. But it doesn’t take long until the Serbian audience chants “Kosovo, Srbija” for the first time. They do it with some perseverance, and the whole stadium takes part. Before that, they booed the Swiss national anthem – and of course Granit Xhaka, every time they touched the ball.
On the pitch, the Serbs are initially more hospitable. They leave the ball to the Swiss team and make no attempt to take part in the game. The result is a game of shockingly low intensity, in which the Swiss almost always have the ball but do almost nothing with it.
But something happened in this game as the first half progressed. The Serbian spectators are losing interest in the provocation. And her team starts to get involved in the game. It is now more stubborn in the duels. The Swiss are having a hard time with this. When the Serbs luckily took the lead shortly before half-time because Nico Elvedi deflected a free kick into his own goal, it was no longer a huge surprise.
Terrible second half
The Swiss now have to react, but they don’t succeed at all, on the contrary: they deliver a terrible second half. The Serbs have a big chance early on and they are now constantly overtaxing the Swiss with their physicality and commitment. After 61 minutes, Aleksander Mitrovic, of all people, beats Manuel Akanji, the otherwise reliable defense chief, and scores wonderfully – 2-0 for Serbia.
Minutes follow in which the Swiss don’t put one foot in front of the other. When they finally managed a combination and Dan Ndoye was fouled in the penalty area, striker Breel Embolo, who was again luckless, missed the penalty miserably after 72 minutes.
And so the Swiss resigned themselves to their fate in the second half. In a game where so much emotion was feared, they are completely emotionless. This also applies to Granit Xhaka, who otherwise does not have a reputation for being a stoic. This evening it is him – and from a Swiss perspective it is only understandable in his case.
