The opening round of the 2020/21 UEFA Nations League sees current European champions Portugal host 2018 World Cup runners-up Croatia at Estadio da Dragao on Friday.
Portugal also won the inaugural Nations League tournament last year, with Goncalo Guedes scoring the only goal of the final against the Netherlands.
Portugal picked up two wins and two draws to finish unbeaten in Group A3, ahead of second-place Italy and third-place Poland.
A Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick then guided Portugal to a comfortable 3-1 semi-final win over Switzerland, before Fernando Santos’ side edged the Netherlands in the final.
However, Portugal didn’t have it all their own way while qualifying for Euro 2020. Santos’ men only won five of their eight games to finish second in Group B – three points behind Ukraine.
Portugal scored a whopping 22 goals in eight games – an average of just under three goals per game – but were eventually made to settle for second place.
Meanwhile, Croatia lost just one of their eight European Championship qualifiers to finish three points clear at the top of Group E.
Still, it was a tight group. Croatia ended up three points ahead of Wales, four ahead of Slovakia and five behind Hungary.
Not only were Croatia the highest scorers in Group E, but they also finished the qualifying campaign with the second-best defensive record.
Croatia were drawn into an extremely tough Nations League group last season, alongside England and Spain. They ended up finishing bottom of Group A4.
Despite being Spain 3-2 and holding England to a goalless draw, Croatia ended up scoring just four goals and conceding ten in just four games.
Head-to-head: Portugal and Croatia have meet each other five times over the years, and Portugal remain unbeaten in this fixture.
Portugal won their first four meetings with Croatia, before ending their winning streak in this fixture with a 1-1 friendly draw in 2018.
Team news: Cristiano Ronaldo is fit to play on the Friday, with the Juventus megastar just one goal away from notching up a century of international goals for his country.
La Liga stars Luka Modric and Ivan Rakatic have withdrawn from the Croatia squad, with manager Zlatko Dalic calling up Antonio Colak, Ante Budimir and Milo Skoric in their place.
Having reach the final of the 2018 World Cup, there is no denying that Croatia boast a strong team. However, Portugal are expected to come out on top on Friday.
🧤 Livaković🧤 Sluga🧤 Grbić#BeProud #Croatia #Vatreni🔥 pic.twitter.com/tsuNLBrUhy— HNS (@HNS_CFF) September 2, 2020
🧤 Livaković🧤 Sluga🧤 Grbić#BeProud #Croatia #Vatreni🔥 pic.twitter.com/tsuNLBrUhy
Forebet predicts that Portugal will keep a clean sheet on their way to victory, while the game is likely to be decided by a single goal.