Ronaldo, Fernandes, Felix, Jota: Don't sleep on Portugal to retain Euro crown
Ahead of a clash between the World and European champions as France travel to Portugal in a marquee UEFA Nations League tie tonight. It's the latter that are aiming to not only retain their Euro crown heading into the rescheduled tournament next summer, but also their status as inaugural Nations League champions, yet the bookies still don't rate their chances in next year's showpiece tournament.
Instead, Belgium, England and Saturday night's opponents France remain the favourites with most and are largely inseparable in terms of price. Portugal, by comparison, are eighth favourites to hold on to their title from 2016, and it's a real mystery as to why.
In years gone by there has been a real and understandable concern from fans of 'A Selecao' with regards to an over-reliance on Cristiano Ronaldo. It is of course natural that when a generational talent of Ronaldo's ilk is so far clear of his teammates in terms of quality that the team will funnel through said player at any given opportunity.
There was also a worry as to how the team would cope once their talisman retired - an eventuality that is still not really in sight despite his age - but this year in particular some of the support cast are coming of age. Indeed, Bruno Fernandes, Diogo Jota and Joao Felix have all enjoyed fantastic starts to the 2020/21 campaign, scoring a total of 35 goals in all competitions this season when combined with Ronaldo's eight-goal haul.
While the aforementioned trio have made huge strides over the past year, it's ironic that the one player many felt the national team would lean on most post-Ronaldo is enduring a period of regression. That man is Bernardo Silva, who has gone from being a pivotal player in Manchester City's 2018/19 title winning side to a bit part player at the present time.
Silva played 83.4 per cent of the league minutes available to him that season and was widely considered to be the player that Pep Guardiola trusted above any other. Nevertheless, despite not suffering any serious injuries of note since, Silva played just 59.4 per cent of the minutes available last season and has done so in just 47.9 per cent of the current campaign.
There have been off field incidents in that time that appear to have led to somewhat of a crisis of confidence on it, but at 26 Silva still has time on his side to return to his outstanding best. Were the playmaker to do just that it would be hard to argue against Portugal, who have widely been considered a defensive and pragmatic side under Fernando Santos - drawing their way to European glory four years ago - having the most exciting attacking lineup in international football.
When you combine that with the well drilled defensive unit that they have been for some time, with the likes of Joao Moutinho and Danilo Pereira allowing the attacking stars to do what they do best, the fact that Portugal aren't among the outright favourites to win Euro 2020 is confusing.
They have a good blend of youth and experience at the back after all, with Rui Patricio's safe pair of hands, even if the need for an improvement on the ageing Pepe and Jose Fonte would be desirable to partner the impressive Ruben Dias. Joao Cancelo, Nelson Semedo and Ricardo Pereira (once fit) will compete at right-back, while Raphael Guerreiro is among the strongest left-backs around.
Santos has a squad that not only has a better balance than four years ago but a huge upgrade in terms of quality, and the opportunity to prove as much against France won't daunt them. Only Belgium (10) have scored more goals in UEFA Nations League A this season than Portugal's nine, and the holders boast the best defensive record to boot (one conceded).
If the European Champions can earn a victory of any kind against World Cup winners France tonight, some might begin to wake up and notice a team that is actually improving as their star man enters the twilight of his career. As things stand, many are sleeping on Portugal's Euro 2020 credentials.
