Portugal looking to inflict further pain on German hosts

Portugal will make the trip to southern Germany on Saturday evening to take on ‘Die Mannschaft’ in a critical Group F encounter for the hosts.

After one round of group games the Portuguese sit on top of the table after a 3-0 victory over Hungary in Budapest that was a much closer match than the scoreline suggests.

With 80 minutes on the clock it looked as if Fernando Santos’ charges would have to settle for a scoreless draw as Hungary gamely frustrated their more illustrious opponents and occasionally threatened on the break.

However a fortunate opener for Raphael Guerreiro was followed by a brace from, you guessed it, Cristiano Ronaldo meant the holders got their trophy defence off to a winning start.

The Portuguese squad is packed with quality and Santos could afford the leave the prodigious talent of Joao Felix on the bench. The La Liga title winner will be pushing for a place in the starting 11 this time around after Diogo Jota left many fans frustrated on Tuesday.

Such is the nature of the format of the tournament, the win over Hungary is almost enough in itself to ensure a place in the knockout stages. An extra point in Munich on Saturday will almost certainly do the trick and few would put it past Santos to set his team up to do just that.

Despite losing their opening game with France, a draw would not be the end of the world for Germany either as they would be confident of taking care of Hungary in the final group game.

The tussle with the French was at times an absorbing clash with Mats Hummels’ own goal the only thing to come between the two giants although France had two further goals ruled out for offside.

Germany gave as good as they got against the world champions but just lacked that cutting edge in the final third to create clear goalscoring opportunities with Serge Gnabry looking the most likely outlet for goals.

Saturday may see Timo Werner introduced from the start. The striker has had a difficult season at Chelsea but has pace in abundance and does get into great positions. The speed at which he operates will greatly trouble veteran Portugal defender Pepe, should the former RB Leipzig man start.

A win in front of their own supporters would provide lift off to the German’s tournament although as mentioned a draw would be far from a disaster. Defeat on the other hand would make things a lot trickier and leave qualification for the knockout stages out of their own hands.

When the draw was made this group stood out hugely with lots of potentially exciting matches on show. A Saturday evening kick off is the perfect showcase for the clash between the current European champions and the 2014 World Cup winners. Fans around the world will now be hoping it lives up to the hype.

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