Despite failing to win any of his six matches in charge of Serbia at two major tournaments (D3, L3), Dragan Stojković remains head coach and has called up five uncapped players for the start of the 2024/25 UEFA Nations League (UNL) campaign. His squad raised headlines with the omission of big name players such as Dušan Vlahović and Filip Kostić, along with Sergej Milinković-Savić and Aleksandar Mitrović, who are both injured.
With Dušan Tadić having retired from international duty after their disappointing Euro 2024 campaign, Stojković has the opportunity to start reshaping his side for the future, which begins with a daunting game against European champions Spain. However, Serbia’s overall UNL record is impressive (W9, D6, L3) as the Eagles soared from League C to League A, scoring at least four times in four of their nine home matches in this competition (W5, D2, L2).
After finishing as runners-up in the second-ever UNL in 2021, Spain went one better last year when they defeated Croatia on penalties to lift the trophy. Now, following an incredible 2024 that saw them romp to the Euro 2024 title before winning Olympic gold, confidence will be high that La Roja can defend their UNL crown in 2025.
Spain will also be without high profile stars for this clash, with Rodri serving a suspension while captain Álvaro Morata misses out through injury. That’s unlikely to affect the belief in Luis de la Fuente’s squad, as they’ve lost just one of their last 12 away matches (W10, D1), with all ten of those wins coming after they’d opened the scoring.
Players to watch: Incredibly, defender Strahinja Pavlović is the second-highest scorer for Serbia in the current squad, and he appears in good form having netted the opener for AC Milan at the weekend. However, he’s only emerged victorious from one of the last five matches in which he’s found the net for club and country (D1, L3). Ayoze Pérez, meanwhile, will be looking to build on his two Spain caps (G1) having scored a winner and an equaliser last month for Villarreal to take his unbeaten run of scoring appearances to seven games (W5, D2).
Hot stat: Spain have scored in normal time in every competitive match since the 2023 UNL final.
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