A bitter evening for Strahinja Pavlović, who was on the field for the full 90 minutes in Serbia’s 2-1 defeat to the Netherlands in the fourth round of Group C of Nations League A.

Koopmeiners opened the scoring from a free kick shortly after the half hour, before the temporary Serbian equaliser was secured by Cvetković at the 35th minute. In the second half, however, the strike of former Serie A player Joshua Zirkzee sealed the result, mathematically condemning the Balkan side to relegation, still on zero points and five behind third‑placed Germany (which was held to a 0-0 draw by Greece, second with eight points alongside the Swiss).

Performance analysis

The central defender, deployed on the left side of the five‑man defence designed by Paunović, displayed several ups and downs. He made six defensive interventions (including two crucial blocks, two shots saved and three recovered balls), but lost two duels and his duel performance was not flawless: only six ground duels won out of 13 (46%) and a 50% success rate in aerial duels (one of two).

Pavlović was beaten by the direct opponent on several occasions, as shown by the four fouls he committed, one dribble suffered and twelve lost possessions.

During the match the 2001‑born player also tried to contribute in the attacking phase: he recorded 52 touches, 17 high‑intensity runs, five progressive dribbles and one successful dribble out of two. His passing was accurate (81%, i.e., 26 of 32), complemented by a successful long ball and one key pass. Offensively he produced two left‑foot shots, including a great chance missed from close range, both of which went wide of the goal.

Return to Milanello

Despite Serbia’s negative run (now four consecutive defeats), Pavlović returns to Milan aware that he is an irreplaceable pillar for his national team. The defender is now ready to make himself available to Rúben Amorim for an extremely demanding October, which will see Milan restart with the internal clash against Sassuolo.

Sassuolo Milan can be watched on DAZN: click here for the current offers.