The Spanish National Team used a lineup against Serbia that had a certain feature not seen since 1928. They used this team to progress through to the quarter-finals of the Nations League with a 3-0 win. Read on to find out what was so unusual about the team selected.
Spanish National Team Make History With Lineup
No Barcelona, Real Madrid, or Atletico Madrid
The Spanish national team eased into the quarter-finals of the Nations League with a 3-0 home victory against Serbia in Córdoba on Tuesday night. Largely due to major absences through injury, Spain put out a starting lineup that had not been seen for 96 years.
Manager Luis De La Fuente selected a team that contained no players from Real Madrid, FC Barcelona or Atlético Madrid – only the fourth time in history this has happened. The other three times this has happened were all during the 1928 Olympic Games in Amsterdam – making this the first time during a FIFA-sanctioned event.
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The big three (particularly Real Madrid and Barcelona) have been known for their huge contributions to the Spanish national team over the years. In the 2010 World Cup final, only two starting players, Joan Capdevila and David Villa, weren’t from an El Clasico team. Villa went on to sign for Barcelona just days after the final.
Looking Outside of the Borders
Not only were the starters all from clubs outside of the Spanish big three, the great majority of them were from clubs outside of Spain itself. Out of the eleven initial players on the pitch, only Dani Vivian (Athletic Club), Álex Baena (Villarreal CF) Martín Zubimendi and Mikel Oyarzabal (Real Sociedad) play their football in La Liga.
The other seven were split among four Premier League players (David Raya, Pedro Porro, Marc Cucurella, Mikel Merino), one Serie A (Álvaro Morata), one Ligue 1 (Fabián Ruíz) and one Saudi Pro League (Aymeric Laporte).
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Whilst it’s true that Spain has seen a rise in its elite players heading abroad, especially to England, it was circumstance that forced De La Fuente into fielding the team he did. A number of players expected to start from Spain’s big three clubs were ruled out injured.
Dani Carvajal was the most notable of those missing out due to his long-term injury, as well as teenage talisman Lamine Yamal who was sent home out of precaution. The 17-year-old had an “overload” discovered after their previous Nations League match against Denmark.
Dani Olmo was the other big three player out with injury, but his Barcelona teammates Pedri and Pau Cubarsí did eventually feature off the bench in this fixture.
Looking Ahead
Up next for the European Champions are their last two Nations League group fixtures away to Denmark and at home to Switzerland. Having already made it through to the quarter-finals, it will be interesting to see who De La Fuente selects in his squad for the November games.
In a season of more matches than ever for the top teams in Europe, it could act as another opportunity to see players play for their national team that don’t play for Real Madrid, Barcelona or Atlético Madrid.
