The recently crowned Champions of Europe were brought crashing back down to earth in a 0-0 draw with Serbia to open their Nations League campaign. Both teams had good opportunities and, surprisingly, this one ended goalless.
Serbia National Football Team Player Ratings vs Spain
Goalkeeper
Predrag Rajkovic — 8/10. Rock solid. Made as many as 5 saves.
Defenders
Kosta Nedeljkovic — 6/10. Didn’t offer much in attack but solid defensively.
Strahinja Erakovic — 4/10. Substituted at halftime after a below-par first half.
Nikola Milenkovic — 7/10. Made 7 clearances to keep Spain at bay.
Strahinja Pavlovic — 7/10. Made the most tackles with 3. A rock defensively.
Veljko Birmancevic — 6/10. Lost the most duels but made 9 clearances.
Midfielders
Ivan Ilic — 6/10. Tried to create something but was not greatly successful.
Sasa Lukic — 5/10. Average outing from him at the centre of the park. Looked out of sorts.
Lazar Samardzic — 6/10. The creative midfielder failed to create any chances.
Andrija Zivkovic — 6/10. Created Serbia’s only big chance.
Forward
Luka Jovic – 5/10. Missed a huge opportunity to settle the game. Ineffective outside of that.
Substitutions:
Jan Carlo Simic —6/10.
Kristijan Belic — 6/10.
Marko Grujic — 7/10.
Petar Ratkov – 5/10.
Stefan Mitrovic – 5/10.
Also Read: Scotland vs Poland Player Ratings as the host suffers a humiliating defeat
Spain National Football Team Player Ratings vs Serbia
Goalkeeper
David Raya – 6/10. Comfortable outing, not troubled much.
Defenders
Dani Carvajal – 6/10. Looked threatening in attack and missed a big opportunity.
Robin Le Normand – 7/10. Rock solid in defence and distribution.
Aymeric Laporte – 7/10. Completed a century of passes.
Marc Cucurella – 6/10. A silent outing compared to the others.
Midfielders
Martin Zubimendi – 7/10. Once again mightily impressive when it comes to filing in for Rodri.
Fabian Ruiz – 7/10. Kept things ticking in the middle. Didn’t put a foot wrong.
Dani Olmo – 6/10. Continuously tried to create something but to limited success.
Forwards
Nico Williams – 7/10. Created a couple of chances and took a couple of shots.
Ayoze Perez – 5/10. Looked completely out of place in an unusual position.
Lamine Yamal – 8/10. Created the most chances, completed the most dribbles, and fouled the most. Livewire.
Substitutions:
Alejandro Grimaldo – 6/10.
Mikel Oyarzabal – 6/10.
Pedri – 6/10.
Ferran Torres – 5/10.
Joselu – 5/10.