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UEFA Nations League holders Portugal hosted Croatia at the Estádio do Dragao in Porto in what turned out to be a rather one-sided game as the defending champions continued their rampant form in the competition.
With a massive total of 15 attempts on goal in the first-half alone, Fernando Santos' men dominated the FIFA World Cup runner-ups from the outset. A 41st-minute effort by Joao Cancelo saw the home side take the lead, and they didn't look back since.
It would be safe to say that Croatia's defence and goalkeeper Dominik Livakovic had a torrid time in keeping Portugal's front line at bay. The home side hit the woodwork four times in the first half alone.
Livakovic was easily Croatia's best player of the night as the 25-year-old kept his team in the game and gave them a chance of making something out of it, but that was not to be.
The visitors did grow into the game in the second half, gradually dominating possession and testing Pepe and Ruben Dias. The introduction of Ivan Perisic and Marcelo Brozovic helped, but Portugal were clearly the superior side by some distance.
On that note, let us take a look at five talking points from the game.
#5: A stern Portugal defence was on show
While plenty of credit goes to the work of Danilo Pereira and Joao Moutinho to limit Portugal's defensive work, Ruben Dias and Pepe dealt with anything that eluded the attention of the dynamic midfield duo. Croatia attempted five shots compared to Portugal's 27 while having only two on target as the likes of Ante Rebic and Andrej Kramaric were kept quiet for large swathes of the game.
Croatia's only goal of the game came in the 91st minute when Perisic and Rebic completed a few one-twos to play Bruno Petkovic through on goal. The 25-year-old finished his chance immaculately, but it was only a consolation effort for the visitors.
Pepe was the best centre-back on the pitch by quite some distance as he completed four clearances and three interceptions while winning 100% of his aerial and ground duels. The 37-year-old ended his game by bagging an assist as well in the dying minutes to sum up a perfect performance.
#4: Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix disrupted Croatia's defensive lines
Zlatko Dalic's men only saw 43% of the ball throughout the game as Croatia preferred to sit deep in their half and tried to play in transitions instead of pressing Portugal high up the pitch. Unfortunately, the tactic backfired spectacularly as the team were completely outperformed in the middle of the park.
Bruno Fernandes and Joao Felix had a field day as they got the better of their markers on numerous occasions. Fernandes had somewhat of a free role, drifting across the face of the pitch and efficiently taking up positions to support Portugal's full-backs for overlapping.
Joao Felix, on the other hand, constantly dropped deep into midfield to collect the ball. The Atletico Madrid player not only got a goal to his name but was heavily involved in most of Portugal's attacking play. The 20-year-old completed four duels on the night and had a passing accuracy of 80%.
#3: Joao Cancelo - Portugal's best player on the night
The man of the first half, Joao Cancelo was, for me, the best player on the pitch. If a brilliant weak-footed finish into the top corner was not enough, the Manchester City full-back also completed the joint-most duels (8) by any player against Croatia. His overlapping and inside runs made life difficult for Ante Rebic as Bernado Silva got the better of his club teammate.
While Kyle Walker got sent off for England in another game earlier in the day, his Manchester City companion produced a top performance. With one of his better games for Portugal, Cancelo has likely sealed a starting berth against Sweden before he returns to club football.
#2: Back to the drawing board for Zlatko Dalic's Croatia
Why were Portugal's midfielders allowed so much time on the ball? Why was there such a massive gap between Croatia's defence and midfield lines? Was it a bad call to bench Marcelo Brozovic and Ivan Perisic? So many questions for Zlatko Delic to answer before his team travel to France to play Didier Deschamps's men.
Bruno Fernandes and Joao Cancelo caused massive problems for Croatia. Fernandes was able to exploit space with immense ease in midfield while Borna Barisic and Rebic were no match to Cancelo's incredible positioning, skill and pace. Portugal registered as many as 27 shots, which should be a big reason to worry for Croatia, going forward in the competition.
Zlatko Dalic and Co. reached the final of the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but is the 53-year-old the right man to take a talented side to the next level? It's definitely very early to answer that as international football has just resumed after the COVID-19 outbreak.
#1: Bruno Fernandes led Portugal well in the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo
Manchester United midfielder Bruno Fernandes must be proud of his performance against Croatia. Fernandes, one of the better players on the night, caused havoc in the middle of the pitch as we witnessed a finer version of the 25-year-old.
He is not the player who will dribble past 3-4 players to score a wonderful solo goal, but his intelligent movement with or without the ball creates spaces for players to score such goals.
Fernandes might go home thinking he could have done better as he only bagged an assist in a team that scored four goals. That's usually not what we see from the former Sporting man, but regardless, his performance was impactful. He ended the game with seven key passes (the most by any player), won eight duels (which was also the most by any player), completed 100% dribbles and had four tackles to his name in an all-round performance.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who was sidelined due to a toe infection, would be pleased to see his national team play at such a level even in his absence. The future looks bright for Portugal as they seem to have a squad with the perfect mix of experience and raw talent.
Fernando Santos' men are definitely the favourites to retain their UEFA Nations League title as they extended their unbeaten run in the competition to eight games.
