Portugal 1-0 Italy: 5 Talking Points, UEFA Nations League 2018/19

The absence of Cristiano Ronaldo did not hurt as Portugal beat Italy 1-0 at the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon and moved to the top of Group 3 League A phase in the UEFA Nations League.

A goal from Sevilla forward Andre Silva in the 48th minute was enough to secure the win as the struggles for the Italian national team piled on.

Roberto Mancini's side are rooted to the bottom of the group after two games and face a number of problems. The next international break is scheduled for October where both Portugal and Italy will square off against Poland.

On that note, here are the 5 talking points from the game:

---

#5 Portugal dominates the first half but lack end product

Bernardo Silva came close to scoring

Portugal were without superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, who was rested for this international break by manager Fernando Santos. The first half saw the Portuguese hold the edge against a hesitant Italian side but were unable to capitalize on their opportunities and failed to find the back of the net.

Bruma and Andre Silva created a couple of decent chances but Bernardo Silva and William Carvalho possibly had the best chance of giving Portugal the lead but unfortunately for them, their shots narrowly went wide.

Bernardo Silva's claims for a penalty were denied by the referee when the Manchester City midfielder rushed into Ciro Immobile but was blocked and pushed back by the Lazio striker just inside the 18-yard box.

But, the 2016 European Champions broke the deadlock immediately after the start of the second half as Andre Silva pounced on Bruma's pass, took a couple of touches and shifted the ball on to his left foot and struck with power, found the bottom left corner to give Portugal the lead and eventually the win in their opening group match.

#4 Lack of support from the Italian midfield

Portugal v Italy - UEFA Nations League A

Except for Jorginho, the rest of the Italy midfield was rotated by Roberto Mancini for the encounter against Portugal. Lorenzo Insigne was one of many relegated to the bench and in came the likes Giacomo Bonaventura, Bryan Cristante and Federico Chiesa.

But these changes did not produce any different outcome as there was minimal assistance from the newcomers throughout the game. Chiesa had a torrid game and completed just 68% of his passes whereas Jorginho also looked slightly off colour.

The supply into the box for strikers Simone Zaza and Ciro Immobile was also below par as neither wingers, Chiesa or Bonaventura put in any threating crosses into the box which could have caught the Portugal defence off guard.

There was a lack of effort from the Italian wingers and midfielders as they were unable to create chances for their teammates and similarly, failed to initiate any goalscoring opportunities themselves as they did not possess the required instinct, riskiness and fearlessness that was demanded off them by their manager.

#3 Portugal's resolute defence

The Italian playmakers were unable to find any room in and around the box

After taking the lead early on in the second half, Portugal decided to drop back and defend their advantage. This resulted in Italy having a higher share of possession but the Portuguese defence were ready for the task ahead and successfully kept a clean sheet in their opening game.

The backline comprised of Pepe, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo and Napoli's Mario Rui. All four of them made it extremely hard for the Italians to penetrate through into the box and did not allow for any kind of opening.

The centre-back pairing of Pepe and Dias combined for nine clearances whereas Cancelo led the charge with four successful tackles. On the other hand, Mario Rui was wild with his challenges and committed four fouls and surprisingly was not booked by the referee for any of his careless errors.

Meanwhile, the likes of Ruben Neves and Bernardo Silva also chipped in with some additional defensive work towards the latter stages and contributed with a couple of neat tackles to prevent and disrupt the surge from Italy late on.

A total team effort by the entire Portugal lineup meant that Rui Patricio was provided adequate protection and barely troubled, forced to make only a couple of routine saves on the night as the 30 year old goalkeeper kicked off the UEFA Nations League campaign with a clean sheet.

#2 Lack of firepower in the Italian attack

Zaza had the best opportunity to earn a point for Italy

Roberto Mancini lined up his attack with the partnership of Ciro Immobile and Simone Zaza up front. However, the duo proved to be were very poor on the night and failed to register a single shot on target.

Both Zaza and Immobile did create a string of half chances during the second half but lacked conversion and the finished product. The pair combined for a total of six shots but all of them went to waste as none of them were on target and did not hold any kind of threat to Portugal goalkeeper Rui Patricio.

Ultimately, all the hard work, momentum and control in possession was being killed off with these lacklustre efforts on goal by the two strikers. Immobile's poor performance saw him being taken off early as the Lazio frontman was replaced by Domenico Berardi in the 58th minute.

The best chance to equalize fell to Zaza during the latter stages when he beat William Carvalho to a corner but headed the ball over the crossbar from close range.

#1 Mancini has numerous things to sort out

Mancini's reign has endured a difficult start

Prior to kickoff, Italian head coach Roberto Mancini decided to make nine changes to his starting XI with Mario Balotelli being the notable omission. However, squad rotation by the former Manchester City boss did infuse any freshness into the lineup as Mancini had hoped for.

In his post-match interview, Mancini said, "The players gave all they could, but to win you need to score goals so we must find a remedy. We made mistakes, and we must try to limit them. I didn't enjoy the defeat, but I did like the team's desire to keep trying right until the end, even if they were at risk of conceding a second goal."

After their defeat on Monday night, Italy are placed in the bottom of the Group 3 League A phase in the UEFA Nations League and Mancini has a lot of things to sort out before next month's fixture against Poland.

It's important that the 53-year-old settles on his best starting XI before the next game as too much chopping and changing can affect the morale of the dressing room.

After his dismal outing against Poland last week, it may in the best interest of the entire team if someone like Balotelli is not included in the future as his mediocre performances possibly could have a negative effect on the rest of the players as well.