Portugal manager Roberto Martinez will be aiming to make it two wins from two in Group J as he looks to guide his new nation to qualifying for Euro 2024 in Germany.

After leaving his post as Belgium manager after the recent World Cup in Qatar, the Spaniard was head-hunted to replace Fernando Santos in Portugal's dugout, with A Selecao getting off to a solid start under their new regime with a 4-0 thumping of Liechtenstein on Thursday.

Joao Cancelo and Bernardo Silva scored either side of half time to take the game away from the minnows, before Cristiano Ronaldo - who was a surprise starter in attack - bagged himself a brace as he became the most-capped men's player of all time.

Martinez utilised a similar 3-5-2 system to the one which he used for the majority of his six-year spell with Belgium, with Danilo Pereira and debutant Goncalo Inacio flanking Manchester City's Ruben Dias in defence. Cancelo and Raphael Guerreiro provided dynamic width from their wing-back roles.

In midfield, Fulham's Joao Palhinha was rewarded for his fine season in West London by being preferred to Wolves' Ruben Neves at the base of midfield, with Silva and Bruno Fernandes providing industriousness and creativity ahead of him.

In attack, Joao Felix and Ronaldo were provided with the nod, with the likes of Rafael Leao, Diogo Jota and Goncalo Ramos all named on the bench in a tremendous show of squad depth from a team which should be comfortably topping a relatively weak-looking Group J.

Given the ease of their victory, Martinez is unlikely to make any changes to his starting XI against Luxembourg, even though he will be aware that the trip to Luxembourg City is likely to provide himself and his players with a much stiffer test given their forthcoming opponents' progression in recent years.

However, having beaten them in both meetings during World Cup 2022 qualifying under Santos's stewardship, the 49-year-old will be determined to come out of March's international break having made a perfect start to his career in Portugal.

Portugal possible starting lineup: Patricio; Danilo, Dias, Inacio; Cancelo, Silva, Palhinha, Fernandes, Guerreiro; Ronaldo, Felix

Written by
Brett Curtis