Portugal endured a disappointing start to life without Cristiano Ronaldo after suffering a heavy 4-1 defeat to Denmark in their Nations League encounter at the Estadio Municipal de Braga.
The defeat marked Portugal’s first outing since Ronaldo’s retirement from international football, leaving new manager Jorge Jesus with plenty to address after his side struggled against an impressive Danish team.
Denmark took control of the contest and opened the scoring shortly before half-time when Pierre-Emile Højbjerg converted a penalty in the 43rd minute.
The visitors were awarded the spot kick after Ruben Dias handled Rasmus Højlund’s attempted header inside the penalty area.
Denmark returned from the break with even greater intensity, extending their advantage through Højlund, who volleyed home in the 50th minute following an excellent pass from Mikkel Damsgaard.
The Manchester United striker struck again in the 57th minute, producing an impressive individual effort to get past Renato Veiga before finding the bottom-right corner.
Portugal’s defensive problems continued as Joachim Andersen made it 4-0 in the 75th minute, rising above the defence to direct a powerful header into the net from Mathias Jensen’s cross.
The hosts eventually found a consolation goal in stoppage time through Bernardo Silva, who converted the rebound after Mads Hermansen had saved João Neves’ initial attempt.
Difficult beginning for Jorge Jesus
The result represents a major setback for Jorge Jesus, who would have wanted a positive performance to begin Portugal’s new chapter following Ronaldo’s international retirement.
Despite registering 15 attempts on goal, Portugal struggled to create meaningful scoring opportunities and finished with an expected goals (xG) figure of 1.26.
Bernardo Silva’s late strike accounted for 0.39 of that total, while Gonçalo Ramos failed to register a single shot throughout the encounter.
João Félix, Pedro Neto and Bruno Fernandes managed just one attempt each, with substitutes João Palhinha and Francisco Trincão recording multiple efforts.
Denmark, meanwhile, delivered an impressive collective performance, with Højlund leading the attack.
The striker recorded five shots, contributed 0.64 expected goals, completed all seven of his passes and won three aerial duels.
Damsgaard and Gustav Isaksen also created three chances apiece, while Mohamed Daramy won 11 of his 13 duels.
The victory puts Denmark in a strong position to qualify for the Nations League quarter-finals, with a draw against Norway in their final group fixture on Tuesday enough to secure their place in the last eight.
