Meanwhile, we can clearly see Sweden operating in their rigid and compact 4-4-2 structure. Pereira’s positioning at the base of Portugal’s midfield bridged the gap between the midfield and the defence and prevented large holes from opening up in the Portuguese defensive shape when one of the two more advanced central midfielders pressed like this. We can see that Fernandes is being followed by a Swedish midfielder, as he drops from the centre of the park out to the full-back, which provides us with another example of Swedish players getting particularly and noticeably tight to Portuguese ball receivers. This tactical analysis piece will analyse both of these teams’ tactics in and out of possession from this past Tuesday’s game and we will discuss some of the key aspects to both teams’ tactics in this recent fixture.

As we can see, Portugal’s creation of a five-man front line creates an overload versus the opposition’s four-man backline. One notable element to Sweden’s defensive tactics was how their players got tight to particular opposition players when the ball was played into the Swedish half of the pitch. Portugal, on the other hand, will likely have Ronaldo in the first XI once more. His second was a screamer from outside the box. Pepe’s clubmate Danilo Pereira anchored the midfield, while the EPL duo of Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes and Wolverhampton Wanderers’ João Moutinho played in the two slightly more advanced central midfield positions. Back. Another element of Sweden’s defensive tactics that was clear in this past Tuesday’s fixture was how their backline organised themselves and frequently advanced the height of their line in order to compress the pitch and limit the amount of space that Portugal actually had to play in when in possession of the ball. They were happy to defend inside their own half and play a patient and disciplined game without the ball. It puts him within seven goals of the most prolific international goalscorer in football history - Ali Daei, who scored 109 goals for Iran. In this image above, we can see that Guerreiro has picked up an advanced position high on the left wing on this occasion, which results in the Portuguese left-winger then shifting inside, which, on this occasion, creates more space for Guerreiro on the overlap. They subsequently managed to earn a 2-0 victory in their second game of the … Additionally, Sweden’s narrow, compact shape resulted in the central areas of the pitch being difficult to play through, however, Santos’ side got around that problem through the use of crossfield balls, like the one we see being played in the image above. In fact, a video of his individual highlights during Portugal’s victory is being shared on social media - and it’s a joy to watch. However, when Portugal played a backwards pass, such as the one we can see them playing in this image above, their backline would sometimes take the opportunity to advance their position slightly – thus, restricting the field of play even more for Portugal, although this did also create a greater amount of space for Portugal’s attackers to target in behind the Swedish defensive line. Manchester City travelled to the AMEX stadium on a Saturday evening, the same location where they had lifted the title […], Chelsea’s UEFA Champions League qualification seemed to have taken a huge blow after the heavy defeat to Sheffield United. Despite the absence of Juventus superstar Cristiano Ronaldo due to injury, goals from Joao Cancelo, Diogo Jota, Joao Felix and Andre Silva ensured the win for Fernando Santos' side. Additionally, here we can see that Moutinho is in the right half-space in a dangerous position, should he receive the ball here, while Fernandes was occupying the central midfield position here. Meanwhile, Portugal's talisman Cristiano Ronaldo missed the game against Croatia, but is expected to be fit for this match. Though their forwards did, at times, apply pressure to Portugal’s defenders, Andersson’s side didn’t typically press Portugal very aggressively while they build up their attacks. It’s clear that Sweden prioritised restricting the amount of space that Portugal’s creators had to play in, inside the Swedish half of the pitch, as is evident by their compact defensive shape, the players’ willingness to advance from their position to close down nearby ball receivers, and the backline’s tendency to advance a few yards up the pitch when they had the chance. This leaves Portugal with two central midfielders and three defenders during the build-up. Portugal’s central midfielders and winders were constantly closed down like this during the game and this made it more difficult for them to influence play while their team was attempting to build into the final third. Portugal have won five games, lost seven and drawn six. Paris Saint-Germain attacker Kylian Mbappe scored the sole goal of the game, in which Barcelona forward Antoine Griezmann missed a penalty for France.

We can see an example of Portugal’s man-marking system in action in the image above. Fernando Santos has picked a talented and experienced squad.