Diogo Dalot reveals what he told Rasmus Højlund ahead of Portugal vs Denmark clash

Diogo Dalot and Rasmus Højlund are among a group of Manchester United stars to face off during the international break as Portugal face Denmark in the Nations League.

Manchester United were on a decent run of form before entering the international break and Ruben Amorim will want to maintain that level when club football returns.

In the meantime, several Reds have their full focus on their national teams, with important Nations League fixtures coming up in the next two weeks.

There aren’t many United players on international duty but several will be involved in the same fixtures as Portugal face Denmark over two-legs.

Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Dalot will be representing their country against the Danish trio of Rasmus Højlund, Christian Eriksen and Patrick Dorgu.

Dalot reveals what he told Højlund ahead of international clash

In the final game before the international break, Højlund ended a 22-game-long goalless run with a brilliant strike in a 3-0 win over Leicester City.

United fans will be hoping that the Danish striker can build on that over the next two weeks before returning to action with the Reds in better form for the last period of the season.

Of course, Dalot and Fernandes would much rather than their club teammate can enjoy some positive goalscoring form once they return to Old Trafford.

Dalot, who celebrated his 26th birthday on Tuesday, revealed that he joked with Højlund about that, with the pair “no longer teammates” when they face each other on Thursday and Sunday evening.

“We were joking this week about Højlund scoring a goal, which he hadn’t done for a while,” Dalot told Portuguese journalists, as per Jornal de Noticias.

“We said to him, ‘Now you have a week off and then you can score goals again.’

“It’s a good competitiveness, but from the moment we step on the pitch we’re no longer teammates.”

Amorim would like United duo to receive rest

It would not be a surprise to see all five United players start those games this coming week.

Fernandes is a greatly important player for Portugal and Dalot has been emerging as the number one choice at right-back in recent international camps.

Yet, those at Old Trafford would be delighted to see either of those players gifted some sort of rest over this period.

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Eriksen, Dorgu and Højlund could all do with the extra minutes, while the Portuguese duo have been starting every game for United this season.

Dalot, in particular, has been visibly impacted by the amount of football he has been playing and some rest ahead of the final stretch of the season would delight Amorim.

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