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Portugal vs Ukraine Prediction & Betting tips
Portugal was crowned European champion in 2016 and hopes to be the second country to grab its second European title in a row next year. The Southern Europeans will, however, first have to qualify for the main tournament. Next Friday, the Seleção will start its European Championship qualification with a home match against Ukraine.
Portugal:
The World Cup of 2018 turned out to be a sof for Portugal, because in the eighth finals the country was sent home by Uruguay with a 2-1 defeat. However, the men of coach Fernando Santos managed to recover quite well, because in League A of the Nations League with Italy and Poland as opponents with two victories and two draws unbeaten. Not bad, certainly because the Seleção had to do without talisman Cristiano Ronaldo in all those duels, who had not played for his country since the World Cup.
Cristiano Ronaldo can however be admired again in the Portuguese jersey. That is of course great news, because even at the age of 34, CR7 is still phenomenal, as we recently saw in the return of the eighth finals against Atletico Madrid. He is of course also the undisputed leader of the national team both inside and outside the lines – his return gives the entire Portuguese dressing room a huge boost. Cristiano Ronaldo is likely to form an attack on Friday evening with Andre Silva, who is in good shape with the national team with three goals in his last five international matches. Furthermore, I hope Santos dares to give Joao Felix some playing time. The only nineteen-year-old attacking midfielder of Benfica has only eighteen games in the Portuguese Primeira League in the legs, but develops like a comet and is now on the radar of all European top clubs.
Ukraine:
Ukraine has a lot less quality on paper. The lion’s share of the Ukrainian selection consists of players who are still active in their own country, mainly at the local top clubs Shakhtar Dontesk and Dynamo Kiev. Both teams, however, allowed themselves to eat the cheese of the bread in the Europa League this season, so you can question the current selection of the blue yellows. In addition, star player Yevgeni Konoplyanka shares in the sporting malaise at Schalke 04, which has to make every effort to avert degradation from the German Bundesliga. The other star, Andriy Yarmolenko, is in the rag basket and has to be absent in Lisbon on Friday evening.
So it is dark times for Ukrainian football, although national coach Andriy Shevchenko does a good job. Thanks to three victories and only one defeat, Ukraine managed to leave League B of the Nations League and will play in the prestigious League A. next year. mainly against countries from the B and C trimmings.
Portugal vs Ukraine head to head matches
08.11.96 WC Portugal Ukraine 1 : 0
04.10.96 WC Ukraine Portugal 2 : 1