Superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo will not be part of Portugal’s travelling party for their Nations League clash with Switzerland on Sunday.
The Manchester United man has already scored a brace against the Swiss during this international window in a 4-0 victory last weekend, but he will be absent for the return fixture in Geneva.
Fortunately, Portugal boss Fernando Santos has confirmed that Ronaldo is not injured and is simply being rested alongside Borussia Dortmund full-back Raphael Guerreiro and Wolves midfielder Joao Moutinho.
“There are no physical problems,” Santos said of the trio’s absence. “It is normal management.
“It wouldn’t make sense to have 26 players travelling if we can only play 23. It fell to these players to miss out, that’s all.”
Ronaldo opened his Nations League account with two goals in four first-half minutes against the Swiss last weekend in Lisbon.
First the veteran was teed up by Liverpool’s Diogo Jota and swept a finish into the back of the the net inside the area, before being on hand to tap home after Jota’s effort was parried by the goalkeeper, making it 3-0 before half-time after William Carvalho’s opener.
Portugal sit top of Group A2 with seven points from their three games so far, only dropping points to Spain so far. The Selecao won the inaugural competition in 2019.
