Switzerland 1-Spain 1 | Gerard Moreno relieves Ramos

Everything will be decided in Seville. It was logical to think that this was going to be the destination station of the Nations League group stage, with Spain and Germany. playing the pass to the Final Four in the last game. The strange thing is to have gotten there with stumbling blocks like the one in Kiev or Basel, which could have been great after a match in which Ramos missed two penalties. Fortunately, Gerard Moreno arranged it in the 89th minute, nine after entering the field.. A respite for a Selection that He was once again the prey of his champagne football: good uncorking, effervescence in the first minutes that usually lead to illusion and … a final without gas in which the goal becomes something like a chimera. Neither with the false nine nor with the real nine. The goal is hidden at the bottom of the mine and you have to keep going down. So far he came, when no one expected him, Gerard. The dolce vita at Villarreal it even infects La Roja.

The truth is that there is no time to regret not having added the three points because Germany is already on the way to La Cartuja. This is not an imperial Germany that you cannot get your hands on. No. But Spain has not quite hit the mark and that is our main concern. The rotations and the headline dance does not seem to accompany either. In Basel we went back to the hieroglyph of finding out who is nine. That is the mystery to be solved game after game, but tonight it was more so than ever. Luis Enrique's thing is like going to the deck and dealing the cards again. Morata fulfilled in Amsterdam, more than that I would say, but against Switzerland he was a substitute. And Unai Simón, who stood out against the Netherlands but seemed to have the provisional label at the time as it was a friendly, was back under scrutiny. In summary: of the eleven that were starters at the Johan Cruyff Arena, only one repeated, precisely the one with the fewest ballots.

And in that trompe l'oeil Spain in which the nines are not nines, the sides also generate confusion in the rival. Sergi Roberto and Reguilón feel happy when they fly upwards. They did it from the beginning, although it was Ferran Torres who caused the most damage in the Swiss defense, ordered in principle with three centrals and two lanes. The one from City had already stepped into the rival area a couple of times when they had barely played five minutes. Spain moved so much that on the field there seemed to be more than eleven footballers dressed in white.

The only blur came at the edge of minute twenty, when Fabian missed a back pass and Shaquiri was about to take advantage of it. His shot, however, was cleared for a corner by Unai, who so far was cold as Switzerland had not even threatened to hit. Petkovic looked serious on the bench and it was normal. Not even the approach with the connection between Shaquiri and Embolo, news regarding the match played a month ago in Madrid, had effect. The ball did not reach them, which was the heritage of the Spanish midfield, the one that Luis Enrique does not hesitate to qualify as the best in Europe.

But a defensive mismatch in Spain opened the doors wide for Switzerland. Embolo seized the open gorge on the right wing after the joy of Reguilón and reached the bottom line. His center was finished off the first time, with a glove as his left foot, by Freuler. The ball flew like a paper plane to the right corner of the goal defended by Unai. Nothing could do for Athletic. It only remained to applaud … if there had been fans to do it at St. Jakob-Park.

There Spain staggered, looking for air. It was difficult for him to recover because he was not successful in the pass and the initial fluidity of the attack men had been lost. Embolo left the band and got between Pau Torres and Ramos, who broke with yesterday's game (177) Buffon's record in national team matches. Switzerland took a few steps back, shielding the team ten meters below leaving Seferovic as an island and Shaquiri as the trick to administer the ball on the few occasions when the Swiss national team had it. The break was reached with a left foot from Oyarzabal that Sommer cleared and a shot that went high to Ferran Torres. And from the break we came back with a cross from Ferran and a shot from Oyarzabal that ended in another corner. Change of field, but the same protagonists in La Roja's attempt to put one more march into the game.

But we still had to suffer a little more before trying to climb the mountain. It happened at minute 55 in a blunder by Unai Simón, who left the area to try to beat Seferovic in a ball into the hole thrown by Shaquiri. But he miscalculated, the former Real Sociedad striker kept the ball and finished off with Unai out of place. Ramos then emerged to save the goal under the sticks. Who would tell the one from Beds that two minutes later he would have the opportunity to round off the job by taking a penalty after Ricardo Rodriguez's hand. But this time, the paradinha did not deceive the goalkeeper and Sommer cleared the Madridista's launch for a corner. The streak of 25 penalties in a row without failure was broken for Sergio. You had to keep trying to climb the mountain.

Morata joined that expedition, who entered for Fabián in minute 57. He tried to repeat the pattern of Amsterdam, that going down and moving to open later to the extremes, but Switzerland stood firmly behind. So in the 71st minute Luis Enrique took one more step and kicked Koke, Canales and Adama in for Busquets, Olmo and Oyarzabal. But not for those. Akanji remained firm in the center of the Swiss defense and as the minutes passed Spain was falling prey to that evil that consists of centering and centering the area when ideas fail. Until Morata played Morata and forced a penalty which, in addition, was tipped off by Elvedi's double yellow card. Minute 79. Again Ramos, again the paradinha, again Sommer waiting on the sidewalk. Result: second penalty missed by the captain, who thus closed a night that seemed unfortunate until Gerard Moreno came to the rescue. He entered in 80 'and made it 1-1 in 89. It caused a draw that continues to force us to win against Germany to be in the Final Four but that allows us to face the duel with another face. Seville deserves it.