Portugal will face Switzerland at Estádio do Dragão, in Porto, in UEFA Nations League 2018/19 Finals. Portugal vs Switzerland is the match with big interest because of great National squads and great perspectives reaching the Final. Both teams are made up of super strong players who play at the highest level in Europe and beyond. Review our thoughts on this match here below.

 

Portugal

FIFA Rating – 7

Portugal looks very confidently bringing back to squad Cristiano Ronaldo and lots of new young and talented players. The players of this roster are very strongly tuned to the attacking football. Although they did not show this in the group stage of the UEFA Nations League. During the group stage, they played only 1 resultative game. Portugal won against Italy by 1:0, then they had a tough game against Poland in a very productive game with 3:2 win. Later, The Navigators approved their first place in two draws without losing any games in Nations League. In total, they scored 5 and conceded 3 goals in 4 matches. Moreover, Portugal has drawn two last games in Euro 2020 qualification against Serbia and Ukraine playing at home. In these matches, they also played very defensive football scoring only once in two games.

All previous Nations League matches were without Cristiano Ronaldo. This time they have in their squad one of the best players in the world, what should effect team from the good side. Fernando Santos already started preparing the young players to the highest level matches. As we can see, he brought young and inexperienced players to the squad. This season, players like Joao Felix, Goncalo Guedes, Diogo Jota, and Ruben Neves gained great form and now showing very strong results in their clubs.

SmashingTip predictable Portugal line-up

Head Coach

Fernando Santos

Squad

Goalkeepers

Rui Patricio;

Defenders

Joao Cancelo, Jose Fonte, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro;

Midfielders

William Carvalho, Joao Moutinho, Ruben Neves;

Strikers

Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Goncalo Guedes;

 

Switzerland

FIFA Rating – 8

Switzerland doesn’t have so much talented and skillful player as Portugal, however, their achievements are also very big. In Fifa rating, they stand near each other. In general, Rossocrociati looks very dangerous, as exactly they overtook Belgium and took a ticket to the Finals. Both teams finished with the same amount of point, however, Switzerland had a better goal difference. In the group stage, Swiss win 3 of their 4 games losing only to Belgium in away match. Of course, their courage and tank power did their job at the home stadium. They beat Belgium with 5:2 result in one of the most interesting matches of the season. Haris Seferovic, who knows well Portuguese football scored a hattrick and become top goalscorer of the tournament. Switzerland played two matches in Euro 2020 qualification, where won against Georgi confidently by 2:0 away. Against Denmark, they faced big troubles in defense and conceded 3 goals 6 minutes before the end. Most interesting, that match finished with a draw, although, they led by 3 goals.

Vladimir Petkovic called the strongest team as it was possible. Xhedran Shaqiri will play in the Champions League Final 4 days before the match, so very likely he will stay at the bench. In general, Switzerland’s squad is less experienced in national football. They don’t have the players like Pepe, Joao Moutinho or Cristiano Ronaldo, who already played more than 100 caps. However, we saw how they can play and be motivated for the game.

SmashingTip predictable Switzerland line-up

Head Coach

Vladimir Petkovic

Squad

Goalkeepers

Yann Sommer;

Defenders

Kevin Mbabu, Manuel Akanji, Nico Elvedi, Ricardo Rodriguez;

Midfielders

Granit Xhaka, Denis Zakaria, Steven Zuber, Remo Freuler, Breel Embolo;

Strikers

Haris Seferovic;

 

Portugal vs Switzerland H2H

During the last 3 years, these teams met twice in World Cup qualification. Both teams fought for the ticket to the Final stage. Most interesting, that they finished the stage with the same amount of points, however, Portugal was luckier and had it much better. Both teams won their home matches with the same 2:0 results. However, the last match for them was the most important. They met in the last round and Portugal were stronger in Lisbon.

 

Article image is taken from https://en.as.com/en/2018/05/08/football/1525779526_020361.html