PortuGOAL

Porto come back from Germany with a draw, Bayern overpower Benfica

Comprehensive Portuguese in the Champions League round-up

Renato Sanches came back to the Estádio da Luz and stole the show as Bayern Munich inflicted a 2-0 defeat on Benfica. The 21-year-old midfielder was involved in the first goal and scored the second. Porto got what could prove a crucial point as they began their Champions League campaign with a 1-1 draw in Germany at Schalke, Otávio scoring from the penalty spot. Matthew Marshall reports from Gelsenkirchen and Tom Kundert from Lisbon.

PortuGOAL also rounds up all the action involving Portuguese players and coaches as Ronaldo received a shock red card, Bernardo Silva scored in a losing effort and there were differing fortunes for coaches José Mourinho, Paulo Fonseca and Leonardo Jardim.

Chris — Would it not be prudent for Porto to try and swoop in to pick Lopes up while he is still semi-affordable? I don't know about you, but I'm not exactly brimming with confidence when I see Corona or Hernani on or right-wing. Ronny Lopes has a big upside and he's still somewhat under the radar....

Nick J — Monaco minus Ronny Lopes are a lot worse as they don't have another player who does what he does!...

Nick J — A battling performance and the point gained will be crucial at the end of the group stage. Schalke’s press made it a tough game and there were some tired legs out there - Felipe looked like he’d fall over/get injured by the end. The first 20mins in particular were full of mistakes (Felipe/Herrer......

Portuguese abroad round-up: Ronaldo off the mark for Juve, Silva shines

Cristiano Ronaldo opened his account for Juventus this weekend with a brace in Serie A against Sassualo. Meanwhile, Bernardo Silva drew extended praise from Pep Guardiola for his showing in England and Pepe followed up his goal on international duty with yet another goal for Besiktas - his fifth for the Turkish outfit in 2018/19.

There was less to be pleased about for Everton boss Marco Silva, however, but on the goals front the Portuguese contingent abroad found the net in Russia, Romania, England, Bulgaria, Cyprus and Poland. The standout strike perhaps being Miguel Cardoso’s goal for Dinamo Moscow in Russia on his full debut against champions Lokomotiv Moscow.

Val — One more shoutout. Predro Caixinha has Cruz Azul atop the Liga MMX table. They were undefeated until this weekend after 9 games....

Nick J — I've been following Monaco and whilst they obvs sold too many experienced players in the past summer markets to be fair he rested key players against Toulouse and it was a B team in quite a few positions. Atletico aren't playing well so Monaco might spring a surprise tonight! Ronny Lopes!......

Portuguese Abroad shorts: Neves; Marco Silva; Fonte; Vitor Pereira and more

Vitor Pereira’s Shanghai SIPG are the new leaders of the Chinese Super League as the campaign nears the home straight.

Meanwhile, former Everton and Portugal defender Abel Xavier has been discussing the impact of Marco Silva at his old club, while Ruben Neves talks Porto and Rui Fonte settles alongside his brother in France with Lille.

Nick J — Joao Mario again? Inter are looking for anything above 18m to get rid due to FFP - its all very complex with sales and selling at the right time due to the rules. They are looking to get rid of Gabriel Barbosa as well so this could make things easier, either way they'll struggle to push Mario out th......

Sanches ready for second chance at Bayern: “I have no weaknesses”

The 2018/19 season looks set to be a crucial campaign in the career of Portuguese midfielder Renato Sanches, as the former Benfica prodigy looks to finally assert himself in Germany with Bayern Munich.

Sanches signed for the Bundesliga champions from Benfica in May 2016, shortly before Portugal’s European Championships triumph in France. The youngster’s performances for the Seleção at the tournament suggested that the Germans had pulled off a major coup, and Sanches was issued the Golden Boy award at the end of that year.

Danny DaSilva — Chris, the only way for his mind to catch up to his body, is for him to consistently problem solve his way out of match day scenarios. There are no "experiments" or practice conditions that can replicate this....

Justin/rochester — @Chris and Danny, you guys both bring up great points and depending on the day I could side with either of you. I guess that’s the point of being as knowledgeable as we are about these things, I literally can change my mind any given month or year. Anyways, I think Renatos problem is his brain has......

Sunesh — Sanches should tone down his arrogance and reinvent himself to earn a place in match-day squad regularly...

Portugal U21s leave themselves an uphill task to qualify for Euro 2019

Portugal’s U21 team face a tough road to the 2019 U21 European Championships despite a 2-0 win in Wales yesterday. A 2-1 home defeat against Romania on Friday night put Rui Jorge’s side in an uphill battle to qualify for next summer’s tournament in Italy.

PortuGOAL rounds up the two matches and explains the permutations that will see the Seleção make qualification.

André Silva strikes as Portugal down Italy

Portugal 1-0 Italy

Portugal began their Nations League campaign in positive fashion with a thoroughly deserved victory against Italy in Lisbon tonight. Remarkably it was the Seleção's first competitive victory over the Italians since 1957! In front of over 52,000 fans, the Seleção followed up their encouraging display against Croatia by largely dominating their storied opponents at the Estádio da Luz.

André Silva’s goal shortly after half time earned Portugal all three points, and only an excellent display by Italian goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma and some hesitant finishing prevented a wider margin of victory.

Neville — NO 7 jersey should be earned which is worn by the legend and brought laurels to the country cannot be given to any players. Players need to work to earn the jersey as a bench mark. CR7 is still playing for his country so it should be reserved for him....

Rolf Gerber — Good team performance. Portugal on the way back to jogo bonito? But also back to complicated play in and around the box? Individual highlights, Patricio is constant class, Cancelo confirmed that he is a valid option on the right and at the moment better than Cédric, Mario Rui improved compared with......

Neville — Team played well, But did not have the required cutting edge alike Queresma and Nani who are class above the rest, the new guys need to show consistency and intelligent play. Bruma played well but need more play time with the national team. Pepe played extremely well to his potential without showing......

Guardiola and Sarri my influences - Shakhtar coach Fonseca

In 2016, Paulo Fonseca took on the somewhat daunting challenge of replacing legendary Romanian coach Mircea Lucescu at Shakhtar Donetsk.

Now in his third season in Ukraine, the former Porto boss continues to enjoy overwhelming success which has led him to become one of the most coveted young managers in Europe.

Chris — I was a fan of Paulo Fonseca, and I felt he was treated poorly at Porto. Glad to see him do well in Ukraine. But I've lost all respect now that he says Fraudiola is an inspiration....

Val — Good to see old “Duck Face” Fonseca back and doing well. He was part of the cycle of underwhelming coaches Porto trotted out for a while after “da tru” Vitor Pereira left (BRING BACK THE TRU!) but perhaps in hindsight his stale Porto stint prepared him for the job at Shaktar. Luis Castro, R......

Bento pleased with debut South Korea win

South Korea boss Paulo Bento says he was happy with many aspects of his side’s 2-0 victory over Costa Rica, as the Portuguese looks to install a new philosophy with the East Asian team.

Bento enjoyed a positive debut on the Korean bench in front of a sell-out crowd at Goyang Stadium, with goals from Lee Jae-Sung and Nam Tae-Hee enough to beat the Central American visitors in a friendly match on Friday evening.

Val — Dear God, what philosophy? Reward incompetence? Bento's legacy is that of a donkey who keeps sticking his head into an oven, gets burned and does it again. South Korea are the worst fouling team at the World Cup. All they did was foul after losing possession and the referee did nothing to stop it. ......

Pepe scores in his 100th game as Portugal draw with Croatia

Portugal 1-1 Croatia

Pepe's 100th Portugal appearance was marked with a goal as his header cancelled out a vicious Ivan Perišić strike for a new-look and Ronaldo-less Seleção in the Algarve.

Sérgio Oliveira and Gedson Fernandes made their debuts from the bench as Fernando Santos' side looked refreshed and renewed in this friendly before Monday's Nations League match against Italy.

SupremoGino — @Danny To be fair France's squad improved from two years ago. Portugal did not have to deal with Mbappe and as I recall it Patricio was the man of that match making a series of extraordinary saves which led us to winning the Euro. At the same time, Payet intentionally hurting Ronaldo changed the g......

Danny DaSilva — Yay another draw, just keep proving the naysayers right. The Croats lose to the French 4-2, and they're failed as warrior poets and all look on in awe. Our Portuguese actually defeat the French 1-0, and instantly everyone dismisses it as a fluke. They'll never give us our due until we starting domin......

Rolf Gerber — Insteresting how line ups are read differently by commentators. About yesterdays line up I read (in different publications) 433 (as here on portugoal.net) with Willam as 6, 4231 (with double pivot Neves-William) and 4141 (which it really was, at least what I have observed in the first half): Patri......

New competition, new cycle, new Portugal

“The Nations League is an official trophy and as such we will enter it with the intention of winning it, taking it as seriously as any other competition.” Those were the words of Portugal coach Fernando Santos when questioned about the new UEFA competition that gets underway this weekend.

The Seleção kick off their efforts to win the inaugural tournament with an attractive-looking home clash against Italy next Monday in Lisbon, and the players are towing the party line. “Any competition that we enter, we do so to win it,” said striker André Silva yesterday.

johnieoooo — ----------Patricio------------ Cancelo--Pepe--Dias--Guerreiro -----William-------Sanches/Neves------ Lopes----Bernardo------Guedes --------------A. Silva---------------...

George — I'm excited to see what some of these players can do but I'm more frustrated and sceptical than anything else. I mean, is this REALLY a new Portugal? Or is Santos just going to revert back to form once Ronaldo joins the team next month? Back to a 4-4-2 with inverted wingers? It's hard to tell but I'......

Jose — Allot of fans crying for Santos to bring in lots of young players! Let's hope that all goes well because I have a feeling if it doesn't the same people will jump on Santos for bringing in too may young player. Let's not forget the Cape Verd game........Forca...