Football Results

Portugal used well the home-field advantage in the semi-finals when it won Switzerland but with far more difficulties than the end result indicates. The Dutch had to play extra time with England and they won, just like the last match with Portugal 3-0, which was played a bit more than one year ago.

Portugal

Portugal played quite well in the group phase of the Nations League and they won first place leaving Italy behind, but they didn’t start well the qualifications for the European Championship. They played two matches at home with the biggest competitors in the group, Ukraine and Serbia, and both matches ended as a draw. Naturally, the Portuguese expected to wins both of them, which would paved the road toward the European Championship, something that is expecting from the title defender. Since the Portuguese underperformed in the Euro 2020 qualifications it was logical to focus on the final of the Nations League where again have the home-field advantage which they didn’t put in good use in previous matches.

They did so in the semi-finals against Switzerland, however, it was much harder than the final 3-1 suggests. The Swiss had their chance and the result stayed at 1-1 for a long time, but the Portuguese have Ronaldo, who was again the decisive player. He scored all three goals for Portugal and was especially dangerous in the finish of match when it was the most needed. The biggest loss in the match was injury of stopper Pepe who cannot now. His replacement will be Fonte.

Probable lineups Portugal: Patricio – Semedo, Fonte, Dias, Guerreiro – W. Carvalho, R. Neves, B. Fernandes, B. Silva – Ronaldo, J. Felix

Netherlands

The Dutch objectively had a far more difficult task in the semi-finals, although this team didn’t enjoy the home-field advantage like Portugal. They showed once again that they have returned to the top of world since they defeated England, which played in the semi-finals of the World Cup in Russia and did very well in the group stage of the Nations League and the beginning of the Euro 2020 qualifications. The Dutch excelled too in the Nations League, and reach the final after defeating France and Germany, although Germany defeated them in Amsterdam at the beginning of the qualifying cycle which spoiled a bit atmosphere in the team.

They won Belarus, which was expected, and but the semi-final match against England was a much difficult for them. They were the first they to receive a goal after a gross error of stopper de Ligt, who had a great season in Ajax. Obviously, he was tired as well as majority of other players, however, manager Koeman had decided to send on the pitch the duo from Liverpool, van Dijk and Wijnaldum. De Ligt rectified his mistake with the equalising goal and the Dutch exploited mistakes of their opponents in the extra time to score two more goals. It is possible that van de Beek replaces de Roon in the midfield.

Probable lineups Netherlands: Cillessen – Dumfries, de Ligt, van Dijk, Blind – F. de Jong, van de Beek – Bergwijn, Wijnaldum, Babel (Promes) – Depay

Verdict:

Portugal didn’t exactly excel but it won Switzerland mostly thanks to Ronaldo’s individual quality. The Portuguese expect a lot from him in the final and we believe they can score a goal or two, however, the Netherlands showed its strength and we expect to fight back.

Pick: both teams to score 1.82 - 82/100 @1XBet