Luis Enrique picks six Barça players but Spain lose to Switzerland

Luis Enrique picks six Barça players but Spain lose to Switzerland

Lucho named six Barcelona stars in his XI for Saturday's Nations League game

Spain gave up top spot in their UEFA Nations League group on Sunday as they lost 2-1 to Switzerland in Zaragoza. La Roja switched off in defence and lacked bit in attack.

Luis Enrique surprised people by not lining up with either Álvaro Morata or Borja Iglesias in the starting lineup. He opted for an XI with Marco Asensio and Ferran Torres alternating in the position of false '9,' with six players from Barça included: Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba, Sergio Busquets, Gavi, Pedri and Ferran.

Spain had not featured a starting lineup with six players from the same club since Sept. 11, 2018 when Luis Enrique fielded six from Real Madrid in Elche against Croatia. Six from Barça had not happened since Oct. 11, 2013 in Palma, against Belarus, under the rule of Vicente Del Bosque.

Despite the fact that Alba scored for Spain, the experiment failed with a very soft defense, with García once again singled out. The center-back was not at his best and we already know that little is needed for Luis Enrique to hear pleas on the streets about the return of Sergio Ramos.

Things turned ugly in the 25th minute when Akanji opened the can after a set-piece. Luis Enrique's Spain has only won three games in which it was behind on the scoreboard: against England at Wembley in 2018, against Georgia in Tbilisi in 2021 and against Croatia in the round of 16 of the European Championship, also in 2021.

Spain were not capable of breaching the Swiss area, despite long possessions and good quality of ball circulation. A finisher was missing and also someone to find the final pass. Thus, Spain was true to its statistics when losing at halftime: two wins, 15 draws and 16 losses.

Spain not bad

Although Alba equalized, the Swiss did not take long to retake the lead three minutes later. 18 years after Rubén Baraja scored an own goal with the national team, Eric García added one, although it was claimed by Embolo.

This the eighth defeat in history on Spanish soil for La Roja and in the previous one -- against England in 2018 -- things happened as a consequence such as Nacho Fernández not returning to the national team after that performance.

We will see if Luis Enrique takes some type of measure or if he continues to trust in his players. If you are superstitious, you can cling to the fact that the last defeat against Switzerland preceded the first and only World Cup in Spain after losing on the first day 2010 finals. You have to keep rowing to believe in this team. If they beat Portugal in Braga on Tuesday, they will still play the final four of the Nations League.