Fernando Santos responds to criticism surrounding his decision on ‘top-quality’ Diogo Jota

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Liverpool striker Diogo Jota is in blistering form at the moment, but he didn’t start in Portugal’s 1-0 defeat to France.

N’Golo Kante bagged the only goal of the game as France claimed a 1-0 victory in Lisbon, with Portugal posting a blank.

Fernando Santos decided to go with Cristiano Ronaldo and Joao Felix up top, with support coming from Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva.

They’re four huge names, but they couldn’t find a goal to draw the game, leaving many to question just why Jota was named on the bench.

The 23-year-old has smashed six goals in his last five games for Liverpool, whilst he also bagged two goals and one assist for Portugal against Sweden last month.

Despite his superb form, Jota only played 34 minutes on Saturday night and wasn’t able to make an impact as a substitute in place of William Carvalho.

The Portuguese media quizzed Santos on his decision after the final whistle, and he was quoted by Goal as saying that people would have been unhappy if he’d left anybody else out.

Santos called Jota a ‘top-quality player’, but went with a tried and trusted team rather than throwing Jota in – and given Liverpool’s injury woes at the moment, Reds fans are probably pleased with that decision.

?As I said before, this team played in France and did very well there. And I don’t remember someone asking me why Diogo Jota did not start the game,” said Santos. “Jota is definitely a top-quality player, everybody knows that. So is Bernardo, and the same goes for Cristiano. And Felix, too. If Jota had played and the team’s performance wasn’t good, you would ask me why Bernardo or Felix didn’t play as Felix is in top form at Atletico Madrid and Bernardo is Bernardo. That’s normal.”

“I understand your question and I am alright with it. It’s normal to listen to these questions after the game. But I don’t believe this was our problem. We had collective issues and we couldn’t stop France playing. And perhaps one or another problem in the midfield, too.,” he added.