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Ukraine made their debut in the elite division of the Nations League with a victory over Switzerland. It was important for both teams to get off to a good start in the first round, given that they have two games ahead of them with the group’s heavyweights, Spain and Germany.
Switzerland started the match actively, showing aggressive pressure in the Ukrainian midfield. However, playing with possession, Petkovic’s team did not usually create chances in Pyatov’s goal. The Swiss press, when analyzing the match with Ukraine, mainly criticizes his team for the lack of integrity in the game and the lack of ideology in the attack.
“Using active pressure in the first half, Switzerland looked bright, bold and exciting. Sometimes even domineering, writes the head of Blick’s sports department Felix Bingesser. – However, it was not possible to maintain a high pace. Seferovic’s excellent goal concealed the fact that Switzerland were unable to create scoring chances. As the game progressed, Switzerland played worse and worse.
“The result is a 1: 2 loss to the nominally weakest opponent in the group. The League nation started for Switzerland with a false start. It will only get more difficult. ”
“Ukraine is a rival that should not be underestimated,” writes Basler Zeitung. – They have only lost once in the last 21 games, they beat Portugal and Serbia in their group, and their U-20 team won the World Cup. Petkovic started the game against Ukraine aggressively, sometimes six or seven players from the Swiss national team chased the opponent in their half of the field. It was ambitious, modern and inspired by teams like Bayern Munich. In some places, Switzerland came under pressure, but in other episodes there was a lack of class and precision in execution. Furthermore, Switzerland lacked pace, and after 1: 2 Petkovic’s team failed to create a single dangerous moment. The defeat of Ukraine is not surprising. ”
Aargauer Zeitung also points out that Ukraine is the weakest member of the group, and the defeat in Lviv hurts Switzerland’s chances of remaining in League “A”.
“Switzerland got off to a promising start, but Malinovsky’s kick to the post in the tenth minute was a harbinger of disaster. Four minutes later, Switzerland conceded a goal after an exemplary counterattack in which Tymchik and Yarmolenko participated. The Swiss were shocked for a while, but continued to play risky football. However, it was not possible to create sharp moments and almost 70% of the property did not help. It took individual action from Seferovich to equalize. ”
“In the second half, the Swiss game fell apart and the Ukrainians took advantage of it. This time, Petkovic’s team couldn’t recover from the goal. ”
“The Swiss knew that they would not only be against Ukraine. Their starting lineup is, on average, two years younger and at times it seemed like they had the teamwork of six Shakhtar players.
The most complementary to the Ukrainian team was the French edition Le Nouvelliste.
“Ukraine is a newcomer to the elite division of the Nations League, but it has everything to be considered a dangerous competitor. The game was of equal character, but the Ukrainians have such refined players as Oleksandr Zinchenko, whose strike in the 68th minute decided the outcome of the match. The Manchester City player is one of the incarnations of this attractive team that took advantage of the mistakes of Switzerland.
Except for Vargas’s hit on the post and Seferovic’s goal, the guests had practically no chances. This is very disappointing considering the ambitious start of the match.
“Andriy Shevchenko’s team deserved to win, they played as efficiently in seizing their opportunities as the head coach was in his time as a forward.”
Corriere del Ticino reporter Marcelo Pelidzari saw what his colleagues saw from the German and French editions. “The Swiss started the game very well, showing resistance, courage and quality.” However, their enthusiasm waned after Malinowski hit the post, “the classic prelude to a goal”, which happened in the 14th minute. “Yarmolenko led Ukraine forward with a little magic.”
Then Switzerland played in segments, the end of the first part and the beginning of the second were especially successful so that “Andriy Shevchenko was angry in Italian, communicating with his assistants”. But football showed its strange nature: in response to the best moment in Switzerland (Vargas hit the post) it was followed by Alexander Zinchenko’s “goal of the pearl”. Petkovic’s substitutions did not work and Ukraine led the game to victory.
