Santos risks Ronaldo wrath after dropping Man Utd forward for Portugal's draw with Spain - so why did he pick Andre Silva instead?

Fernando Santos has risked Cristiano Ronaldo's wrath with his explanation as to why the Manchester United forward was dropped from his Portugal starting XI against Spain on Thursday night.

Portugal opened their latest Nations League campaign with a 1-1 draw against Spain at Estadio Benito Villamarin, with Alvaro Morata opening the scoring in the 25th minute for the hosts only for Ricardo Horta to net a late equaliser.

Ronaldo was a surprise omission from Santos' lineup as the Portugal boss asked Andre Silva to lead the line instead, which he has explained was a purely "tactical" decision.

Ronaldo won his 187th cap for Portugal when he came off the bench for the final 30 minutes, but Santos felt Silva was a better option to help press Spain high up the pitch from the first whistle.

"It was just one option. A manager's option, a tactical option - this is how these four games are going to be decided," the 67-year-old head coach told a post-match press conference when asked why he named Ronaldo on the bench.

"For this game, I thought it was important having a player like Andre [Silva] starting.

"He is hard-working, closes in behind, he can do a few things that Cristiano cannot in the same way.

"Cristiano can do many other things and that is why he is the best player in the world.

"But this was my choice this time. I am going to rotate the players a lot during the next three games.

"And they all need to be ready, as expected of them."

When Cristiano Ronaldo watches Portugal