European U21 Championship: Portugal thrash Germany to make final Portugal produced a dominant display to crush Germany 5-0 and reach the final of the European Under 21 Championship. After a goalless opening 25 minutes, Portugal took control of the contest as the brilliant Bernardo Silva, Ricardo Pereira and Ivan Cavaleiro all struck before the break.Germany had no answer to the Portuguese masterclass and
fell further behind as Joao Mario struck inside the opening minute of the second half. A miserable evening got even worse for the Germans as Ricardo Horta made it 5-0 and substitute Leonardo Bittencourt was sent off for a second booking. Portugal, who have never won the tournament, will Sweden in the final on Tuesday after they beat Denmark 4-1.
The current Portuguese crop certainly look well-placed to go one better than the class of 1994, who made the final, after inflicting Germany's heaviest ever defeat at this age group.
Rui Jorge's side dominated from the outset, recovering impressively from Tiago Ilori's last-minute withdrawal and hitting the post in the 15th minute.
Man-of-the-match William Carvalho played a fine pass down the right flank, with winger Ricardo cutting back and squaring for captain Sergio Oliveira to hit a low strike which came back off goal frame.
A wayward Johannes Geis free-kick was the best Germany could muster by the time Portugal turned their dominance into a deserved 25th-minute opener.
Unsurprisingly Carvalho was involved, starting a move which resulted in Cavaleiro playing a deflected through ball for Silva to rifle past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The Barcelona goalkeeper was soon picking the ball out of his net again, with Silva's corner from the right glanced on for Ricardo to net from close range.
Germany attempted to rally and Joshua Kimmich produced a stinging shot that Jose Sa parried into the path of Nico Schulz, only for the winger to hammer over.
The Portugal goalkeeper did better when stopping a fierce Amin Younes strike at the end of a first half which would soon get worse for Horst Hrubesch's men.
Ricardo's cross all too easily found Mario at the back post, with the Sporting midfielder's cutback expertly thumped home by Cavaleiro.
The stoppage-time goal was followed up a minute into the second half, with Silva and Ricardo involved before Mario struck home via a deflection.
There was a slightly concerning moment as Silva limped off after 50 minutes, but it did little to change the way this match was going.
Horta wasted a glorious chance for a fifth but made no mistake in the 71st minute, turning Joao Cancelo's cross past Ter Stegen.
Bittencourt ensured things would get worse for Hrubesch's side, with the substitute foolishly collecting two bookings within 15 minutes of his introduction - although the damage by that point had been done.
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European U21 Championship: Sweden beat Denmark to reach final Sweden set up a meeting with Portugal in the final of the European Under 21 Championship after beating Denmark 4-1. John Guidetti, who spent last season on loan at Celtic, put Sweden ahead in the 23rd minute from the penalty spot before setting up Simon Tibbling to make it 2-0 three minutes later. Denmark put the Swedes under pressure in the second half and
Uffe Bech narrowed the lead on 63 minutes. But Sweden held out and secured victory as substitute Robin Quaison made it 3-1 seven minutes from time and Oscar Hiljemark netted a fourth deep into injury-time. The final on Tuesday will be Sweden's first since 1992, when they won the tournament.
After Portugal crushed Germany 5-0 earlier in the evening, Denmark edged the early play of the second semi-final and looked to have opened the scoring after 11 minutes, with Bech's corner turned in at the near post by Yussuf Poulsen - an effort ruled out for handball.
Jannik Vestergaard dragged wide as the Danes pushed, only to be hit by a sucker punch after Alexander Scholz was adjudged to have bundled over Isaac Kiese Thelin, Guidetti sending Jakob Busk the wrong way with the resulting penalty.
Within three minutes things got even worse for Denmark as Kiese Thelin played in Guidetti, whose selfless pass to Tibbling was fired home.
Unsurprisingly, Sweden sat deep after taking the lead and welcomed Denmark on as half-time approached.
When play resumed there could have been a third had Kiese Thelin latched on to a Oscar Lewicki header across, although Denmark grew into the game as the half progressed.
They reduced the deficit in the 63rd minute when Bech flicked past Patrik Carlgren, while Vestergaard and Jonas Knudsen had efforts to draw level.
However, Sweden ended strongly and, shortly after Abdullah Khalili came close, substitute Quaison drove home seven minutes from time to settle the nerves.
Things got even worse for Denmark in stoppage time as captain Hiljemark wrapped up victory with an impressive strike across the face of goal.
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