Portugal 3-1 Switzerland
Goals: Cristiano Ronaldo x3 | Ricardo Rodriguez
Assists: Bernardo Silva, Gonçalo Guedes | Steven Zuber
- FPL Involvement:
- Rui Patrício – 90 minutes
- Rúben Neves – 90 minutes
- Bernardo Silva – 90 minutes
- João Moutinho – 4 minutes
- Fabian Schär – 90 minutes
- Xherdan Shaqiri – 90 minutes
Cristiano Ronaldo dominated the headlines as his hat-trick helped Portugal to the inaugural Nations League final.
However, he was helped along the way by a selection of Fantasy Premier League assets who also impressed on Wednesday night.
There were no fewer than six FPL players involved in the game, predominantly for Portugal.
The most high-profile was Manchester City’s midfield dynamo Bernardo Silva, who was deployed behind Ronaldo and João Félix in a 4-3-1-2 system.
However, he had plenty of freedom to roam into wide areas, and it was his ability to find space that led to Portugal’s crucial second goal.
Silva’s ball across the penalty box from the right set up Ronaldo for his sweeping finish into Yann Sommer’s near-post.
However, the Manchester City man was not the only FPL asset to impress in the build-up to that goal.
Wolves midfielder Rúben Neves was also present, earning his 11th cap for Portugal and was stationed in the central midfield trio.
It was him who found Silva’s run down the right flank with a trademark long-distance through-ball from deep.
Neves’ club-mate Rui Patrício continues to hold down the fort at the back for Portugal.
Switzerland actually started the game stronger than their hosts, forcing the Wolves goalkeeper into two early saves.
Patrício also correctly guessed which way Rodrigo Rodríguez went with his penalty, getting a touch on it, but was unable to prevent it from ending up in the back of the net.
Switzerland enjoyed spells of the game in which they were the better team.
They were spearheaded by Liverpool’s Xherdan Shaqiri, who was deployed behind striker Haris Seferovic in a 3-5-1-1 formation.
The attacking midfielder created plenty of chances for his team-mates and could have put Switzerland ahead inside the first two minutes but was stopped by an outstretched Patrício.
Newcastle United centre-back Fabian Schär was, as ever, at the heart of Switzerland’s defence.
Despite a defeat for the Swiss, both Shaqiri and Schär should be involved in Saturday’s third-place play-off match.
Meanwhile, João Moutinho came on as a substitute in stoppage time but Diogo Jota remained on the bench.
Their lack of extensive involvement in the game was probably good news for Wolves as they prepare to start their 2019/20 much earlier than their Premier League rivals, with a handful of key players involved in international tournaments over the summer too.
Centre-back Pepe was the only player to come away with an injury, as all FPL assets in the match retained a clean bill of health.
Portugal XI (4-3-1-2): Patrício; Guerreiro, Dias, Pepe (Fonte 63′), Semedo; W Carvalho, Neves, B Fernandes (Moutinho 90+1′); B Silva; Ronaldo, João Félix (Guedes 70′).
Switzerland XI (3-5-1-1): Sommer, Rodríguez, Akanji, Schär; Zuber (Steffen 83′), Freuler (Drmic 89′), Xhaka, Zakaria (E Fernandes 71′), Mbabu; Shaqiri, Seferovic
4 years, 10 months agoCome on England!
Although we have history with Portugal and Ronaldo.