Albania can complete an unlikely double over Portugal and take a huge step to their first European Championship finals if they win Monday night's match in Elbasan.

Portugal are top of Group I but just a point ahead of Albania and Denmark, and could miss out on automatic qualification if their campaign ends poorly.

Albania

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The Red and Blacks have never qualified for the finals of a major tournament but have a real chance this time around, having already won more games in qualifying for a European Championship than ever before.

One of those was the fiery abandoned contest with Serbia that Albania were awarded a 3-0 win for, but with Armenia and Serbia on just a point after five games of qualifying, Portugal, Denmark and Albania, the lowest-ranked side in the group at the start of qualifying, are all guaranteed at least a playoff.

Next year the number of teams at the final tournament goes up to 24, so two go straight through from each group along with the best third-placed finisher.

Due to the five-team nature of Group I, results against sixth-placed teams in Groups A-H do not count towards the ranking of third-placed teams. That means that, as it stands, unbeaten Albania would go straight through to France if they finish third.

Gianni De Biasi's side come into this match unbeaten in three games. They travelled to Denmark in a crunch game last night and held the hosts to a goalless draw to remain well in the hunt to top the group.

Victory here against the Portuguese would set them up to secure a top-two place as their final two games of the group are against struggling duo Serbia and Armenia.

Recent Euro 2016 qualifying form: WDWWD
Recent form (all competitions): WDLWWD

Portugal

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Fernando Santos's side are on course to qualify for a fifth straight finals, but must not rest on their laurels after four straight wins in Group I.

Given the struggles of Serbia and Armenia, Portugal are only a point clear at the top and face qualification rivals Albania and Denmark in their next two competitive matches.

They come into this match having lost to a late Mathieu Valbuena goal in a friendly last night against next year's hosts France.

Superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo failed to find the back of the net in Lisbon, and is now without a goal in three games this season for club and country having not scored in Real Madrid's opening two La Liga matches.

He did score a match-winning hat-trick in Portugal's last qualifier against Armenia, though.

Away from home, Portugal are in fine qualifying form having won five on the bounce in both Euro and World Cup qualifiers.

If they do qualify for the final tournament, A Seleccao will look to continue their good recent record - they have reached at least the quarter-finals the last five times, finishing third at the last tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

They are, however, still without a victory at a major tournament, blowing their biggest chance when they were disastrously beaten by Greece in the 2004 final at home.

Recent Euro 2016 qualifying form: LWWWW
Recent form (all competitions): WWLWWL

Team News

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Star man Ronaldo will likely start on the left for the visitors as Eder continues to lead the line after coming through 90 minutes against the French.

Key players Fabio Coentrao, Joao Moutinho and William Carvalho are all out injured, while Tiago is also suspended for Monday's game.

Ricardo Carvalho came off midway through the first half against France, and Southampton's Jose Fonte could take his place if the former isn't available in Elbasan.

Albania are light at the back and fielded a makeshift defence against Denmark. Despite some of their players not seeing club action for many months, former Sunderland man and captain Lorik Cana led the Red and Blacks to a clean sheet in Copenhagen.

Albania possible starting lineup:
Berisha; Djimsiti, Cana, Ajeti, Agolli; Gashi, Xhaka, Kukeli, Abrashi, Lenjani; Cikalleshi

Portugal possible starting lineup:
Patricio; Vieirinha, Fonte, Pepe, Eliseu; Nani, Mario, Pereira, Silva, Ronaldo; Eder

Head To Head

These two have met on six occasions down the years and Albania's surprise win in Aveiro in the reverse was their first-ever win against Portugal.

Before that, they had lost four of five against A Seleccao. This campaign is the first time the two sides have met in Euro qualifying.

We say: Albania 0-0 Portugal

Albania are unbeaten at their temporary home in Elbasan while the Qemal Stafa Stadium is given a facelift and they might just retain their unbeaten record and move ever closer to that elusive qualification, especially with Ronaldo going through a rare dry spell.

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