Portugal became the first winners of the UEFA Nations League finals after defeating The Netherlands in an eventually close but deserved 1-0 victory.
The hosts came into the final off of the back of a 3-1 win against Switzerland, whilst The Netherlands defeated England 3-1.
Fernando Santos’ Portugal started with what on paper looked like a 4-3-3, with Cristiano Ronaldo sided by Bernardo Silva and Goncalo Guedes who started in place of Benfica’s Joao Felix. But Ronaldo did not stay particularly central and tended to drift wide left and Portugal switched up their shape when the away side had the ball.
The Netherlands fielded their expected 4-2-3-1 with Gini Wijnaldum playing as the most advanced midfielder in behind Memphis Depay. Frenkie de Jong was responsible for connecting defence to midfield and would some times drop to form a back three when Netherlands had the ball.
Ronaldo drifts out wide
Cristiano Ronaldo did not put on a show by scoring a hattrick and ultimately spearheading Portugal to victory as he had done in the semi-final, and actually played somewhat of a subdued role in this final, but the positions Ronaldo took up were quite interesting. Instead of staying as a target man of sorts, Ronaldo tended to drift towards the left, perhaps to avoid marking from either Dutch centre-back.
Ronaldo being positioned on the left also gave Ronaldo the opportunity to drift inside when in possession, a notable example during a 1v1 against right-back Denzel Dumfries, in which Ronaldo beat the defender, before cutting inside from the flank and shooting from the edge of the box.
This positional freedom assigned to Ronaldo did give Portugal more flexibility in attack, too, with Bernardo Silva, Goncalo Guedes and Bruno Fernandes, the most attack-minded of Portugal’s midfielders drifting forward and combining in the Netherlands half.
As previously mentioned, Portugal’s formation on paper looked to be a 4-3-3, but with Ronaldo drifting wide, thus adding an extra number on that side with Guedes on the left and Silva playing slightly higher up than Guedes, the set-up could perhaps have also been seen as a narrow 4-4-2.
Portugal’s rigid shape offers little to Dutch build-up and attacks
When defending against Holland, Portugal took up different, yet very rigid shapes depending on the situation. Generally, Portugal defended in a 4-4-2 shape, with Fernandes and Guedes when tracking back acting as narrow wide midfielders, but sometimes switched to a 4-1-4-1 or even a back five as the Dutch progressed further into their half.
Portugal tended to shift to the side in which the Dutch were attacking, although the away side did tend to have a free man in Dumfries on the right-side as the right-back overlapped, but Portugal’s left-back Raphael Guerreiro defended well in these situations.
This defensive approach from Portugal gave them the advantage in varying phases of play, and in lateral phases offered little space for the Dutch to combine in and around the box. The midfield were also disciplined and carried out their tasks very well.
Until midfielder Donny van de Beek was brought on in the second-half, Ronald Koeman’s side lacked any threat when looking to play into the box, van de Beek’s runs could have perhaps been a better suit to breaking down Portugal’s defence than Wijnaldum. The Netherlands were in contrast more open without the ball, and Portugal tried to make use of this in transitions.
De Jong
When the Dutch were in possession in their own half, Frenkie de Jong, one of Holland’s two deeper-positioned midfielders at times dropped alongside the two centre-backs – Matias de Ligt and Virgil van Dijk to form a back three. This was maybe a part of the Dutch game plan, as in being in aim to give the centre-backs more security when trying to build from deeper areas and to try and create space in midfield via de Jong attracting the press, but there were a few issues for the Dutch:
1) As previously noted, Portugal, depending on the situation switched to a 4-1-4-1/4-1-3-2 and this was when de Jong dropped into a deeper position. With William Carvalho acting as a lone defensive midfielder, Danilo Pereira would move further forward and press de Jong when in possession. Portugal were quick to press when the Dutch were building-up from the back.
2) Because of the tight press, de Jong had less options to pass, so his impact in deeper areas – trying to progress play from defence to midfield, was somewhat relinquished.
3) Considering how Portugal pressed and their rigid shape/changes of shape in their own half, de Jong was too deep to have any proper connection with the other midfielders.
Attackers and chances
Portugal were a threat on the counter-attack, and were in general more productive when in and around the penalty box than the Netherlands were. Although Portugal were, as expected, conservative in their approach, their individual attackers and the way they connected with each other when creating chances proved to be flexible and fluid.
Portugal were flexible on the ball in that Ronaldo would drift from left to centre and vice versa, and (by trade) playmakers Bernardo Silva and Fernandes and winger Guedes all joined in attacks. Silva was wide right, with Fernandes drifting between midfield and attack and with Guedes moving inside from a narrow-left position.
Right-back Nelson Semedo offered a threat when overlapping on the right side, but was often met by left-back Daley Blind who although inferior regarding speed, posed excellent positioning and tackling to get the better of Semedo. Blind also faced Bernardo Silva on the right who would try to combine with Semedo, as well.
Portugal also had the option of playing passes from deep positions. The movement of Portugal’s attackers in advanced positions went in tangent with this tactic, so Portugal had more than one avenue for breaking down the Dutch defence and in this case, the press would be drawn to the player with the ball and the runner would have space to receive the ball further forward.
To add, Portugal totalled 18 shots at full-time, with Holland only having 4 – to add further salt to the wounds, Fernandes had two more shots than the whole Dutch side. One example of Fernandes’ shots being 30 minutes into the match, when one shot from the edge of the box forced a save and was then followed by a Ronaldo header from a corner.
With the chances Portugal had, they really could have been in the lead come the end of the first-half.
Second-half
Early second-half chances set template for end-to-end remainder of game
The second-half began with left-winger Ryan Babel being replaced by Quincy Promes, ad the Dutch made a quick start, aiming to be quicker in their play, with Wijnaldum being able to properly connect with Memphis for the first time in the match, but Memphis was unable to make anything of that put in front of him.
That was then followed by a Ronaldo-led counter; attacking via the left, Ronaldo was abel to keep the ball from centre-back de Ligt with the following attack forcing a corner. Another attack from Portugal saw a combination on the edge of the box result in a shot that was deflected for another corner – Portugal had 10 corners to Holland’s 4.
Memphis broke through the Portuguese defence minutes later and his shot in the box forced a quick save from Rui Patricio. The early stages of the second-half oversaw a a few chances, with the Dutch getting into the rhythm of the game more so. But Holland really needed a player who could break lines and offer a presence in the box. Cue van de Beek?
Yes, van de Beek was brought on for Wijnaldum.
Guedes’ goal result of good interplay
Soon after van de Beek was introduced, Guedes scored. And it was a well-worked goal. William passes to Guedes offering an option, who then exchanges with Guerreiro on the left-side before nutmegging de Ligt who was aiming to close down space which has then offered the on-running Bernardo Silva space to dribble into, before cutting the ball back on the edge of the box to the on-running Guedes who has time to allow the ball to move across his body before shooting and scoring.
Arguably one of the main differences between both sides for a large chunk of the game, was how both sides players combined with each other in situations which led to the goal as described above. And Bernardo Silva was key to this for the home side. Silva’s movement, awareness and energy made him the star man in this encounter.
Crosses
Holland were more threatening after the goal had been conceded and this was because the Dutch began to cross from wide areas more so, and five minutes after the goal occurred, van de Beek played a cross into the box, but Memphis’ header was saved by Patricio.
Daley Blind on the left-side was crossing at will, with the Portugal defence now swarming their own box.
van de Beek’s movement was one of those threats trying to be met by crosses and passes, and van de Beek made an excellent run into the box on the 82nd minute, but failed to make anything of that pass.
Portugal made some substitutions in this time, including Rafa Silva for goal scorer Guedes and Joao Moutinho for Fernandes.
The Dutch brought on Luuk de Jong for Marten de Roon – a centre-forward replacing a midfielder, suggesting the Dutch were in need of a goal, and were trying to get so through headers from crosses. Centre-back Virgil van Dijk also stayed further forward in the latter stages of the match.
Conclusion
After some more chances for both sides, including a fantastic solo run from Rafa Silva and some mild penalty claims, Portugal were crowned Nations League winners. Although the Dutch got better as the game went on and had chances to level things, Portugal were close yet deserved winners. Portugal are a better side than they were when having won the Euros in 2016, and quite a bit of this is due to new additions since then, especially Bernardo Silva.
The Conventional Playmaker 