European Qualifiers, Serbia 2-4 Portugal: 5 Talking Points and Tactical Analysis

Portugal got the better of Serbia 4-2 in a tense encounter at the Red Star Stadium in Belgrade.

The game was a slow-burner and didn’t burst into life until the later stages of the opening half. However, the visitors drew first blood in the 42nd minute when William Carvalho bundled in a loose ball.

Goncalo Guedes increased Portugal’s lead in the 58th minute with an impressive left-footed finish. But, Serbia quickly halved the deficit ten minutes later through Nikola Milenkovic.

Portugal though, restored their two-goal cushion ten minutes from time when Cristiano Ronaldo popped up in the penalty area to apply the finishing touches to a sumptuous Bernardo Silva through-ball.

Aleksandar Mitrovic pegged the away side back a touch with a net-bulger in the 85th minute but Bernardo put the result beyond doubt a minute later with a goal of his own.

Here is a look at the talking points from the game:

#5 Portugal and Serbia produce an astonishingly dour first half

Fernando Santos' men played a dour first half

Portugal and Serbia came into the game having scored a solitary goal in 2 games and 5 goals in 3 games, respectively. Thus, it wasn’t much of a surprise when both teams contrived to produce a dull display of football in the opening 45 minutes. However, the lack of adventure and quality both sides showcased was quite alarming.

The visitors’ passing looked pedestrian for a major chunk of the half and that disabled them from imposing themselves on the game. The midfield looked quite static with Danilo guilty of slowing down the play on numerous occasions. Additionally, Bruno Fernandes played an extremely withdrawn role, which reduced his creative edge significantly.

Also, Bernardo and Guedes’ propensity to come in-field coupled with Nelson Semedo and Raphael Guerreiro’s cautious offensive play led to Portugal being rid of the width that usually carves teams open.

As for Serbia, the home side predominantly tried to use Mitrovic as a target man, launching aerial balls from deep and hoping for the striker to fend off defenders and bring his teammates into play.

However, those long balls were usually off the mark with the former Newcastle striker reduced to feeding off scraps.

The hosts did find themselves in a few promising positions in the half though. Yet, on most of those occasions, they lacked the conviction and the decisiveness to pick the right pass.

Moreover, both sides adopted a rugged approach, thereby disrupting the flow of the game and increasing the number of fouls. While Portugal committed 9 of those, Serbia indulged in 6 offences.

Thus, it was fitting that the only goal of the half arrived via a scrappy avenue.

After Fernandes whipped the ball into the box, the Serbian goalkeeper and Nikola Milenkovic made a hash of the clearance. The indecision meant that the ball fell kindly to Carvalho, who pounced on the opportunity to hand Portugal the lead.

Over the past couple of years, neither Portugal nor Serbia has set the world ablaze with its attacking displays. To put things into perspective, both nations have favoured calculation over creativity.

Yet, not many would’ve expected them to come up with such a drab first half display.

#4 Guedes and Ronaldo’s movement causes problems for Serbia

Fernando Santos deployed a 4-3-3 system at the outset with Bernardo, Guedes and Ronaldo featuring as the front three. However, the Portuguese sprung a surprise as the Juventus forward played through the middle, as opposed to starting on the left.

The switch meant that Guedes was entrusted with manning the flank and he did so adroitly. Though he didn’t enjoy a great first half, he sparked into life in the second period. He dovetailed superbly with Ronaldo and constantly picked up passes in the channels between the defenders.

After receiving the ball on one such instance, he left Nikola Maksimovic for dead before firing the ball past the goalkeeper.

As for the Portuguese skipper, he dropped deep, dragged defenders onto him and then spread passes across the pitch. Thus, ensuring that the Serbian defence was out of shape and that created gaps in the defensive line.

Ronaldo got the goal his performance deserved when he ran onto a perfectly-weighted through ball from Bernardo and dinked the ball over the onrushing Marko Dmitrovic.

At times on Saturday, Portugal were guilty of operating at a lethargic pace, especially in the opening 45 minutes.

However, in the second period, the visitors’ forward duo came to the fore and ensured that they set the platform for a vital victory in Belgrade.

#3 Serbia’s toothless attack and leaky defence a real cause for concern

Before the game against Portugal, the Serbians had accumulated 4 points from 3 games, having conceded 7 goals and scored 5. Thus, their record portrayed them as a team boasting a shaky defence and an offensive line-up that had scored against relative minnows.

And, after the match, a lot of weight was lent to those deductions.

For large parts of the encounter, the hosts looked clueless in the offensive third and lacked imagination. Though Dusan Tadic kept buzzing around in between the lines, the lack of forward runners meant that the Ajax forward had to either pass backwards or sideways.

In addition, the Serbians illustrated themselves to be a one-trick pony with all of their attacking moves concentrating on Mitrovic’s hold-up play.

While the striker is capable of turning in accomplished displays, expecting a forward as enigmatic as him to produce the goods in clutch games might just prove to be too optimistic a belief.

However, the hosts’ woes in attack represent just a fraction of the problem currently engulfing them.

On Saturday, Serbia’s defence looked all over the place with none of their defenders looking comfortable in 1v1 situations.

The first goal was conceded courtesy a misunderstanding between Dmitrovic and Milenkovic while Nikola Maksimovic got too tight to Guedes for the second goal. Both of those decisions allowed the Portuguese attackers to get the better of their continental counterparts easily, thereby resulting in goal-scoring chances.

The fourth goal was shipped when the home side left the back door open, in their search for a potential equaliser.

Guerreiro was accorded the time and the space to find Bernardo unmarked in the box and the latter compounded Serbia’s misery with a wonderful near-post finish.

At this juncture, the Serbians look unlikely to qualify for the European Championships directly, courtesy their deficiencies and their meagre points tally. Thus, the play-offs represent their only route to the competition.

However, even if they make it to the play-offs, they need to considerably improve upon their attack and defence. Else, they could miss out on the continent’s biggest party altogether.

#2 Efficiency triumphs over extravagance for Portugal, again

Portugal have mastered the art of prioritising efficiency over extravagance

Back in 2016, Portugal seemed a team in turmoil. The Seleccao, after sacking Paulo Bento in 2014, were still searching for an identity under Fernando Santos and that lowered the nation’s expectations from Euro 2016 quite a bit.

Yet, the Portuguese managed to stun Europe as they tasted continental silverware for the first time that summer.

Their campaign started with a string of draws with the most notable one being the 3-3 stalemate with Hungary in the group stage. The Seleccao only made the 2nd round by the skin of their teeth and their defensive frailties meant that several pundits wrote them off.

However, since that game, the Portuguese have become the masters of keeping things tight at the back, nicking the odd goal up front and then seeing out the match.

And, those qualities shone through in Belgrade too.

Despite conjuring a painfully dreary first half, Portugal managed to take the lead through Carvalho.

The second half saw them invite the Serbians onto them before they hit them with the proverbial sucker punch.

Though Serbia halved the deficit a few minutes later, the visitors again edged forward after Ronaldo clinically finished past the keeper.

Thereafter, with the hosts frantically hunting for a leveller, the Portuguese stung them on the break as Bernardo rounded off the scoring.

For a majority of the game, Portugal played with the handbrake on and were content to sit back and let Serbia make the first move, akin to what they’ve done recently. The said approach paid dividends handsomely as they came away with a 4-2 win.

Yet, the manner of the victory didn’t seem too alien to those following the Seleccao over the past couple of years.

After all, they’ve learned to prioritise efficiency over extravagance: a methodology not many can claim to have mastered.

And while the current Portugal side might not get the spectators off their seats as much as some of their predecessors, they certainly know how to churn out positive results, irrespective of the circumstances.

#1 Portugal get their qualifying campaign back on track

A tally of two points from as many games wasn’t befitting of a team currently holding the Euro 2016 title and the UEFA Nations League crown. Moreover, their performances weren’t of the requisite quality as numerous fans questioned if Portugal had really moved forward since their continental conquest three years ago.

Hence, the pressure was firmly on the Portuguese to turn the tide around against Serbia, especially considering they’d drawn the reverse fixture a few months back.

And, Portugal produced enough substance to outfox the hosts as they came away with a 4-2 victory.

Courtesy the win, the Seleccao catapulted themselves into second position and could wrestle top spot from Ukraine by establishing their supremacy over them.

On Saturday, the visitors looked patchy on occasions and weren’t at their best. Yet, they won despite not playing too well. And, that is definitely the hallmark of champions.

Though several worried about Portugal missing out on the European Championships bus, the visitors extinguished those fears expertly in Belgrade.

Edited by Sai Teja