Portugal will be taking on Albania in their respective first games of the 2016 European Championship. The game is scheduled at 1845 hours BST at the Estadio da Luz.
Both these teams are a part of Group I of the UEFA Euro 2016 qualifiers. Their other teams who will be fighting to go through from this group are Armenia, Denmark and Serbia.
The Portuguese national side led by the prolific Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo managed to win three of their last six international games. They had a first round exit in the World Cup and will be hoping to change things with the next major international completion beginning.
Portugal is arguably the strongest team in their group but has shown in the past that they crumble under pressure rather than perform.
Ronaldo’s presence will help push him team and strive not to drop points especially against the lesser opponents. He himself has the ability to turn the game on its head as he has shown n the past. He is also their top goal scorer.
Albania faces a tough prospect as they have won against Portugal in the last five meetings. Portugal won four of them while the fifth was a draw.
Albania’s inexperience in big tournaments could also be a reason that they may find it difficult to progress to the next round. They have won two and lost two of the four international games that they played this year.
Albania will need Erjon Bogdani to have a good day at the office if they want to come out with something from this game.
Prediction: Portugal 4-0 Albania