MATCH PREVIEW | This is just the beginning

Not even two months have passed since the national team reached the stars in Berlin and gave joy to hoards of passionate fans celebrating their success in the streets of Madrid, as the team paraded through the city on an open-top bus.

This Thursday, 5th September, from 20:45 (Spanish peninsular time, live on La 1 and with comprehensive coverage across our official social media), Luis de la Fuente's squad are set to get back to reality in the imposing setting of Belgrade’s Little Maracanã.

Click here to listen to Luis de la Fuente and Dani Carvajal's pre-match interviews.

The Balkan coliseum, whose official name honours a champion of fair play, local footballer and coach Rajko Mitić, will play host to the return to the pitch of the European champions and current UEFA Nations League holders, whose title Spain set out to defend today.

The match takes place in a city that the national team is visiting for the sixth time in its history. In the previous five encounters, the matches have always been tightly contested affairs, with four draws and neither side ever managing to score more than one goal, and with memories of fierce battles such as the one in the autumn of 1977, when a goal from Rubén Cano secured Spain's place at the World Cup, beginning a streak of twelve consecutive qualifications.

See the full list of Spain’s shirt numbers for this match.

Gone are the days of rough and muddy football in Serbia, now led by another legend, Dragan Stojkovic, our nemesis in the round of 16 of Italia 90, who will be missing key players such as Filip Kostić, Dušan Vlahović, Aleksandar Mitrović, Sergej Milinković-Savić, and Sevilla’s Nemanja Gudelj.

Nevertheless, Serbia’s strength is undeniable, as evidenced by their presence in the top tier of a revamped UEFA Nations League format (with two teams advancing from each group instead of one to next year’s knockout stages). This Thursday in Belgrade, we will see household names such as Nedeljkovic, young Samardzic, Ivanovic, or former Real Madrid player Luka Jovic.

The Dutch referee Serdar Gözübüyük will take charge of the match, with his compatriot Pol van Boekel serving as the video assistant referee.

In light of their success, Spain, ever-present in recent Ballon d'Or nominations, maintains the same core and competitive spirit that dazzled at the Euros, eager to keep improving and aware that from now on, they will be the team to beat in every match they play.

An exciting challenge to kick off a football season with aspirations of top honours. The beginning of a new chapter in which, as Luis de la Fuente emphasised on the eve of the match, the best is yet to come.