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Roberto Martinez has named two players who can start alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in Portugal's second leg of the UEFA Nations League quarter-final on March 23 at Estadio Jose Alvalade in Lisbon. The Spanish tactician's side lost 1-0 against the Scandinavian nation in the first leg at the Parken Stadium in Copenhagen on March 20.
Cristiano Ronaldo's side lacked clarity in all departments in the first leg. Despite bossing ball possession (56%), they managed only 16 touches inside Denmark's penalty box. In comparison, the home side had 41. The visitors also managed just two shots on target in the whole game as opposed to Denmark's nine.
Denmark had the chance to go one-up against the visitors when they got a spot-kick in the 24th minute. However, Diogo Costa saved Christian Eriksen's shot to keep the game scoreless at halftime. The breakthrough finally came courtesy of substitute Rasmus Hojlund in the 78th minute. The Manchester United superstar converted an inch-perfect assist from Andreas Skov Olsen to make it 1-0 for Brian Riemer's side.
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Portugal will now have to overcome the first-half deficit and win the second leg convincingly to qualify for the semi-finals of the UEFA Nations League. Coach Roberto Martinez was asked about the attacking options he wants to try alongside Ronaldo in the second leg ahead of the clash.
“I think we've shown that over the last 27 games that we're flexible, we play with one striker and two with Diogo Jota and Goncalo Ramos, we have to use our strengths," he replied (quoted by @The NassrZone).
Ronaldo managed just one shot in the entire first leg against Denmark and none on target. The Al-Nassr superstar also had 30 touches in 90 minutes and lost ball possession twice. Neither Goncalo Ramos nor Diogo Jota got any minutes in Portugal's first-leg clash against Denmark.
Cristiano Ronaldo admits that the Portugal camp is tensed and looking to bounce back after loss against Denmark
Cristiano Ronaldo admitted that the air around the Portugal camp was tense and that they are desperate to sketch a remontada against Denmark in the second leg of the UEFA Nations League. The five-time Ballon d'Or winner also admitted that his performance was lackluster in the first leg.
Speaking via ESPN, he said:
"The air is more tense. I'm not hiding it. We're in a tense moment because we need to win, but that's the beautiful thing about football. Tomorrow, I'm calling on the fans to be with us. Let them give us their strength, because we're going to try to do our best."
Cristiano Ronaldo continued:
"I've lost games in 90 minutes, but I've never lost in the first leg. There are games like that, there are bad days. I didn't play at all the other day, the team didn't play at all, but it's part of life. Tomorrow I want to leave the Alvalade Stadium with my head held high. If I score, I'll be happy, but if I don't score, let someone else score, what I want is for Portugal to win."
Cristiano Ronaldo has been in fine form for Al-Nassr this season, scoring 28 goals and creating four more in 33 games across competitions. The talismanic Portuguese has also netted seven times in his last 10 games for club and country.
