The final match of Group F saw Portugal snatch victory at the death against a courageous Czechia side defined by unfortunate errors.
Roberto Martínez’s substitutes were the critical catalyst for Portugal’s winner, with Francisco Conceição guiding the ball past Stanek in second-half stoppage time and Pedro Neto’s energetic dribbling providing the spark, which had been missing in the final third all game.
Despite the fact that Portugal emerged victorious in Leipzig, the scoreline merely masked clear attacking deficiencies for the majority of Portuguese fans, with their attacking performance wildly different from their dominance in the qualifying phase.
For all the attacking talent that Portugal hold within their squad, we saw a tournament-high 31 crosses with just 32.26% accuracy overall.
This suggests that Portugal’s strategy in the final third was down to necessity and not a preconceived plan.
It represented an overall laboured performance from the Portugal attackers, who were unable to effectively penetrate Czech Republic’s resolute low block despite having over 73% of overall ball possession.
In this Portugal vs Czechia tactical analysis, we will highlight why their attacking approach was mostly fruitless, with Portugal relying on Czechias defensive mistakes to find all three points.
Our analysis will also look to understand how Roberto Martínezs Portugal starting 11 Euro 2024 squad will fare in their next group encounter with Türkiye, with Vincenzo Montella’s defensive tactics contributing to a nerve-wracking victory over tournament debutants Georgia.
Portugal’s tactical setup
From the outset, Portugal opted for the back five that had been experimented with in the lead-up to the tournament, potentially looking to match the Czech formation.
However, Roberto Martínez’s starting selection saw three full-backs start the match, with Cancelo and Dalot on the left and right flanks, respectively, and Nuno Mendes deployed as the left-sided central defender.
This left a midfield pairing of Vitinha and Bruno Fernandes behind an attacking trio of Rafael Leão, Bernardo Silva and the main striking outlet of Cristiano Ronaldo.
João Cancelos positioning was particularly interesting, opting for more of an inverted midfield role to create more ball dominance in the middle third.
It can be theorised that this could have been responsible for a lack of Portuguese invention on the left wing, with Leão often isolated and unable to create additional inventive play with an overlapping wing-back.
Nuno Mendes was unable to attack as frequently due to the defensive vulnerability this would create in his absence.
Bernardo Silva was often seen inverting from the right flank, almost operating as a shadow striker at times in close proximity to Ronaldo, allowing Dalot to advance into the vacated space on the wing.
But for all of Portugal’s tactical dynamism and players interchanging the Czech resistance was unfazed and only led to Portuguese confusion when trying to find the back of the net.
Laboured Portuguese attack
In our EURO 2024 preview for Portugal, we highlighted the fact that their attacking fluidity and intelligent movement were key factors in unlocking opposition defences, especially utilising the deeper movement of Ronaldo to create space to attack in behind.
PoKeep Reading TFA With A Free 7 Day Trial
Try TFA Risk Free For 7 Days
