In difficulty for a month and his ankle injury contracted with Portugal against Croatia, Vitinha had a big match on Tuesday evening during his country’s 0-0 draw in Scotland. Has the Portuguese midfielder PSG’s season finally started?
Starting the first day of Ligue 1 in Le Havre after Euro 2024 which saw him take on another dimension with Portugal, Vitinha had negotiated his start to the season well with PSG before injuring his right ankle against Croatia on September 5 last year. Exempted from Portugal’s second match during the last break, Vitinha immediately missed the reception of Brest in Ligue 1 before signing a disappointing performance against Girona then Reims. Unavailable again against Rennes, he was overtaken against Arsenal before being substituted against Nice.
“I always want to help and be available”
It is in this context that Vitinha returned to the Portuguese selection in October. Unused against Poland last week, the PSG midfielder confided before Portugal’s trip to Scotland his frustration after this up-and-down start to the season: “It always ends up affecting me not playing. This is what bothers me the most at this age. I always want to help and be available, whether at club or international level. This affects me. But when I’m on the pitch it doesn’t make any difference, because I want to be there, help and play.”.
Started by Roberto Martinez against Scotland on Tuesday evening (0-0), Vitinha was opposed to a very physical midfielder and the Portuguese press feared before the match that his midfielders would not respond to the proposed athletic challenge. Used as a left relay player, Vitinha knew how to do well and was quite simply the best Portuguese player of the match in the general opinion of the Lusitanian sports dailies.
“Vitinha served as brains, puncher and even thrower”
A Bola gave it a score of 7/10 with this comment: “Perhaps the player with the most uniform performance over the 90 minutes. First half a little further behind, a little further in front of Palhinha, much more daring in the second half. He took on the role of boss of the Portuguese midfield and was the only one in the central area who was truly lit up. He served as a brains, a puncher and even a thrower. He doesn’t like being left out and he doesn’t deserve to be. »
O Jogo also gave Vitinha a 7/10 and found him brilliant against the “Scottish muscle” : “He took the game into his own hands, tried to plan attacks on the last Scottish stronghold, grew in the match, varied, penetrated and served… He tried to take advantage of the freshness of not having played in Poland, he transmitted mental dexterity but also suffered with an eleven lacking the best routines. From pass to short pass, he tried to support the efforts of Francisco Conceição or Diogo Jota, or to give Ronaldo a drop of protagonism. The best football had his signature but he could not be decisive in the final third to dismantle the opponent’s effective barriers. »
“Vitinha was too alone in an out-of-tune orchestra”
Finally Record, which gave him a score of 4/5, also praised his performance and regretted that he was not better supported: “For anyone observing the movement of the Portuguese team, it was obvious that the game only gained fluidity, speed and direction when it was the number 23 who won the ball and led the attack. Furthermore, it was from his right foot that the few breaking passes seen in Portugal’s poor first half came from and he was perhaps the only unit in the Portuguese line-up to have reliability and consistency throughout. of his time on the ground. The PSG midfielder was too alone in an out-of-tune orchestra”.
If João Neves did not play a minute against Poland and Scotland during the break, Nuno Mendes played the entirety of the Seleção das Quinas’ two matches, with an assist against Poland and a performance interesting against Scotland, even if the Portuguese press noted that his understanding with Diogo Jota was less fluid than with Rafael Leão. His nice curled free kick in the 25th minute against the Scots was in any case one of the biggest chances of the match on Tuesday evening and Nuno Mendes is establishing himself more and more as an indisputable starter in the selection.
