Portugal's head coach, Roberto Martinez, has taken a stunning decision to bench Cristiano Ronaldo for their UEFA Nations League match against Scotland on Sunday night.

It follows Ronaldo's 900th career goal in the same competition, a 2-1 victory over Croatia, last week.

However, the 39-year-old has been dropped from the starting lineup for the visit of Scotland, with Liverpool's Diogo Jota taking his place.

In a pre-match interview with RTP, Martinez explained: "It is tactical. I want to share the effort.


"The format of playing two games in 72 hours, Cristiano was the player with the most sprints against Croatia and it's just a question of protecting the player and having an option on the bench."