It is a huge international break for Portugal, with World Cup qualification on the line as they prepare to face Turkey on Tuesday. The reward will be a match against either Italy or Macedonia, with a play-off between the Euro 2016 and Euro 2020 winners a possibility for a place in the World Cup.
Ahead of such a huge week, two of Manchester United's Portuguese stars have been spotted back at their former clubs in their home country. Bruno Fernandes was spotted at Vitória Guimarães to watch former club Sporting win 3-1. The ex Sporting star was invited into the dressing room by manager Ruben Amorim after the game to give the team motivation for their title run-in with Porto.
Diogo Dalot was seen at Estádio do Bessa to watch former club Porto against Boavista. Porto and Sporting are locked in a title race in Liga Nos with 11 games left to play and just six points separating the two.
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Along with United teammate Cristiano Ronaldo, the duo will face a tough task to reach the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. This comes after missing out on automatic qualification in Group A to Serbia and, with Italy potentially standing in the way, it could mean heartbreak for the United trio.
Missing through suspension for the game against Turkey will be Manchester City's Joao Cancelo as well as former Swansea loanee Renato Sanches. Meanwhile, Ruben Dias, Pepe, Ruben Neves and Ruben Semedo are all doubts through injury.
Manager Fernando Santos — who guided Portugal to Euro 2016 glory — admitted the next set of fixtures will be the biggest challenge of his tenure so far. He said: "It's simple: we need to win, nothing else matters.
"This is the most important challenge I had as Portugal manager. Not the most difficult, the most important. We must be in the World Cup for our people. The tickets were sold out in minutes more than a month ago. Our fans will be a major factor and we can't let them down."
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