 
Spain failed to make the most of their dominance on Thursday evening, as Serbia held the reigning champions to a goalless draw in their 2024-25 UEFA Nations League opener.
La Roja, who won the tournament in 2022-23, entered the contest off the back of a nine-game winning run, but they could not find a route past a stern Serbia outfit, as the points were shared in a goalless draw.
The result has left Spain second in Group 4 of League A on one point, with Denmark moving to the top of the group courtesy of their 2-0 success over Switzerland in the section’s other fixture.
An ill-tempered opening 45 minutes produced five yellow cards, while there were also 14 attempts, nine of which came from Spain, but neither team could find the back of the net.
Ayoze Perez had Spain’s best chance of the first period. Still, his effort was saved by Serbia goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic before Luka Jovic somehow missed the target down the other end after smart work from Andrija Zivkovic.
Dani Carvajal had a half-chance for Spain early in the second period, but his effort was just over the crossbar, and La Roja were finding Serbia to be a tough nut to crack.
Spain, as expected, was the team pushing as the contest headed for its final stages, with Alejandro Grimaldo drawing a smart save from Rajkovic from a free kick, before the Serbia goalkeeper denied Lamine Yamal 15 minutes from time, with the game still all square.
Luis de la Fuente’s side ended the contest with 22 attempts, but just six of those were on target, and Serbia managed to secure a share of the spoils despite only having 28% of the possession.
At the age of 17, Yamal has already achieved superstardom, and his immense ability makes him a potential candidate for becoming one of the best players ever to play the sport.
The Barcelona teenager was comfortably the best player on the pitch in this contest, having four shots in total, while he completed four dribbles and finished with a pass success rate of 85%.
It might not have been the result that Yamal wanted, but Thursday’s clash was another indication of his sensational quality, and he was clearly the standout individual on the field in the Nations League fixture.
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