Four questions ahead of the Uefa Nations League semi-finals | OneFootball

The curtain may have closed on the European club football season with Saturday’s Champions League final, but the fun does not stop there.

This week will see Portugal, Switzerland, England and the Netherlands compete to be the inaugural winners of the Uefa Nations League.

And here are four things to ponder ahead of the tournament …

Could Portugal be the team to beat?

While many are looking forward to seeing what England and the Dutch can do in their semi-final, it seems to have slipped under the radar that hosts Portugal should probably be considered the favourites.

After taking a short break from international football, Cristiano Ronaldo is back for the Nations League and the 33-year-old will be aiming to score at his 10th consecutive international tournament.

Meanwhile, Bernardo Silva is coming off the back off a magnificent season for Manchester City, while there is also a great deal of anticipation for 19-year-old Benfica starlet João Félix to make his long-awaited senior international debut.

Fernando Santos’s side go into the game on an eight match unbeaten run and the 2016 European champions will be one to watch, for sure.

Can this young Swiss side spring a surprise?

On paper, it’s fair to say Switzerland are the weakest of the four teams at the tournament.

But that’s not to say you should ever write off a team containing talented players like Xherdan Shaqiri, Fabian Schär, Granit Xhaka, Haris Seferović and Breel Embolo.

Vladimir Petković’s side made it as far as the last 16 of last summer’s World Cup and managed wins against Belgium and Iceland earlier in the Nations League.

Former coach Ottmar Hitzfeld gave them a “50/50” chance of beating Portugal earlier this week, and it will be interesting to see how they get on.

Are the Netherlands the real deal?

After the shame of failing to qualify for both Euro 2016 and last summer’s World Cup, the Dutch finally have a team again and this summer could be their chance to send out a big statement to the rest of the world.

In Virgil van Dijk and Matthijs de Ligt they have probably the best central defensive partnership of any team at club or international level while Ronald Koeman also has the likes of Frenkie de Jong, Gini Wijnaldum, Donny van der Beek and Memphis Depay to call upon in Portugal.

It’s a young and exciting squad and if they perform anything like Ajax did in the Champions League this season, they have a good shot at glory.

Is football coming home?

Almost 12 months on from their highly respectable efforts at the World Cup, England have the chance to prove it wasn’t all a false dawn.

Gareth Southgate has switched to a more conventional 4-3-3 formation after playing 3-5-2 in Russia and his side looks more balanced as a result.

Like Tottenham, they may suffer without a fully fit Harry Kane, but perhaps the Nations League could be Raheem Sterling’s time to finally shine on the international stage.

It’s been 53 years since England last lifted a piece of international silverware but they’re now just two wins away from another one. It might be a while before they get a better chance than this.