Lisbon (AFP)

Without Cristiano Ronaldo, tested positive for the new coronavirus, Portugal returned to victory after their draw on Sunday at the Stade de France (0-0), beating Sweden (3-0) in the League of Nations with a double and a Assisted by Diogo Jota on Wednesday in Lisbon.

The reigning European champions therefore remain at the top of the classification of this group 3, still tied with the Blues who beat Croatia (2-1) in Zagreb.

Winners last year of the first edition of the League of Nations, the Portuguese did not tremble in front of the 5,000 spectators authorized to breathe life into the stands of the Alvalade stadium.

However, the absence of Ronaldo risked penalizing them because in the first leg last month in Solna, the Seleçao had won (2-0) thanks to a double of the five-fold Golden Ball, which had on this occasion reached and exceeded the symbolic bar of 100 international goals.

The 35-year-old serial scorer tested positive for the new coronavirus on Monday, the day after Portugal's draw against France on Sunday in Saint-Denis (0-0), but remained "asymptomatic" according to his federation.

Package for Wednesday's meeting against Sweden, "CR7" left Lisbon a few hours before kick-off to return via a medical flight to Turin, where he will have to observe a quarantine of at least ten additional days before resuming of service with his club Juventus.

- Decisive Jota -

Ronaldo was replaced by the young Liverpool striker, Diogo Jota, who had already replaced his captain, then suffering from an infection in the foot, during the victory of Portugal against Croatia (4-1).

Portugal mastered the first exchanges and William Carvalho's header even hit the Swedish post (4th), but the Lusitanians almost got caught when Mikael Lustig missed his recovery from a corner (13th).

The Seleçao however quickly found the breach by recovering a ball poorly released by the Swedes to allow Jota to offer caviar to Bernardo Silva, who easily adjusted the Scandinavian goalkeeper Robin Olsen (1-0, 21st).

Marcus Berg found Rui Patricio's post after eliminating Ruben Dias (35 ').

Decisive passer, Jota then turned into a scorer to widen the gap thanks to good control after an excellent cross from Joao Cancelo (2-0, 44th).

Served on the left in depth by William Carvalho, Jota shifted alone in the axis to double the bet surrounded by Swedish defenders caught up in speed (3-0, 72nd).

At the bottom of the standings after four defeats and a single goal scored, Sweden failed to reverse the trend in the second period, even though Viktor Claesson and then Alexander Isak forced Rui Patricio to release two great saves (55th, 84th).

Cristiano Ronaldo will therefore be able to take his troubles patiently before returning to the Portugal team to face France on November 14 in Lisbon.

© 2020 AFP