Portugal made life difficult for itself before the quarter -finals of the UEFA Nations League in 2024/25 on Sunday evening.
The Iberers were conveniently beaten during the opening encounter on Thursday and were lucky enough to escape Copenhagen with just a 1-0 defeat against their name. Such a narrow border offers you the hope of turning things around Lisbon.
Roberto Martinez has an extraordinary squad available that has to increase its standards against Denmark if you want to make progress. Portugal needs his superstars to get on the plate on the big stage.
Here is how Portugal could stand in the league of the league of the nations in the league.
GK: Diogo Costa – The 25-year-old demonstrated his penalty savings during the European Championship of last summer and was agile enough again to keep a spot kick away in the first leg and to refuse Christian Eriksen from 12 meters.
RB: Diogo Dalot – Manchester United’s defender will compete against some of his club colleagues in the second leg on Sunday and could compete directly with Patrick Dorgu in Denmark.
CB: Ruben slides – Manchester City’s defender has seen that his standards 2024/25 have dropped considerably and that another shaky display Denmark recently offered encouragement for the last time. It must be sharper in the second leg.
CB: Goncalo Inacio – Renato Veiga was selected to start the first leg, but Däner her penalty and looked nervous. Goncalo Inacio from Sporting CP was able to replace him – how he was late in the game in Copenhagen.
LB: Nuno Mendes – Mendes has proven that he is not only a dynamic runner during the Champions League battles with Liverpool and Mohamed Salah suffocated in both games. This defensive quality was against Lazios Gustav Isaksen in the first leg.
DM: Vitinha – The deep playmaker offers an immense serenity in the center of the park, and Portugal still dominated the possession in the first leg because he has its pace setting. Nobody in Denmark had more touches than him.
DM: Joao Neves – Neves consists of the second half of Paris Saint-Germain Double Pivot.
RW: Pedro Neto – Chelsea’s wing player had little fun against Joakim Maehler von Wolfsburg on Thursday and could not survive the left -back with his dynamics and raw speed. He should be given the opportunity to redeem himself in the second leg.
Am: Bruno Fernandes – Fernandes has been in electrifying form for MAN UTD in the past few weeks, but was not quite as decisive on Thursday. However, he still boasted with the second most common touch of every player.
LW: Rafael Leao – The last time Leao was surprisingly toothless, although he showed a lot of efforts in the future. It is rare for the devastating Milan wing player to keep two games calm in a row.
ST: Cristiano Ronaldo – The top scorer of the International Football was unable to expand his 135 strikes in Copenhagen, but will have the opportunity to increase his balance sheet during his 219th Portuguese appearance. He will hope that this time he is the striker who carries out his characteristic celebration.