Will the Portugues be too tough a hurdle to overcome? Or will Germany topple Roberto Martínez’ men?
Though the nature of the victory was not all too convincing, Germany overcame Italy with a 5-4 aggregate score, made it through the Nations league quarterfinals and will now face Portugal in the semifinals, who managed to eliminate Denmark with a 5-3 aggregate score after extra time.
History certainly does not favor Portugal in this encounter. In 19 total encounters, the Portuguese have only won 3 matches, whereas the Germany have won 11. Furthermore, Germany have won all of the last 5 encounters. To go back to the last Portugal win against Germany, we would need to travel back nearly 25 years to Euro 2000. It is not pretty reading for the 2016 European Championship winners.
Portugal head coach Roberto Martínez will be looking to make that record look a little bit better by ousting the Germans, but will need to overcome former Bayern Munich boss Julian Nagelsmann, who will take place in the German dugout.
Meanwhile, France will take on Spain in the other Nations League semifinal, a repeat of the 2024 Euros semifinal.
