Welsh media reacts to Ethan Ampadu's display in loss vs Portugal as Leeds captain makes admission

Ethan Ampadu has enjoyed a terrific start to the season with Leeds United.

The Whites are unbeaten in the Premier League after five games with the 26-year-old captain playing every minute of every match.

Leeds' only loss so far was a freak 6-3 defeat in the Carabao Cup to Chelsea, with Ampadu also playing 180 minutes of their two games in the early rounds of the cup competition.

And with the international break underway, there's no rest for the wicked, with Ampadu once again playing the full match in Wales' Nations League defeat to Portugal on Thursday night.

Joao Felix's 22nd-minute goal was enough to secure three points for the Portuguese.

But how did Ampadu fare in the narrow defeat in Lisbon?

What the stats say about Ethan Ampadu's display vs Portugal

It might be fair to say that Ampadu had an uncharacteristically poor performance on Thursday night.

Stats by Sofascore show that while the Leeds captain did complete 91 per cent of his passes and made one key pass, he offered very little when Wales were out of possession.

He didn't make a single tackle or interception, which isn't like the Leeds midfielder, who also lost all five ground duels he contended for in the Portuguese victory.

Ampadu was also dribbled past three times and lost possession on six occasions.

What did the Welsh media say about Ampadu's performance?

WalesOnline were almost sympathetic of Ampadu's display.

Despite giving the ex-Chelsea midfielder a 5/10, they said that he was "solid without being spectacular", which is hard to believe when his defensive stats were so poor.

WalesOnline added that he "didn't affect the game as much as he usually does"; then again, he was playing against the likes of Ruben Neves, Vitinha and Bruno Fernandes.

BBC 5 Live Sport pointed out that Portugal's goal is something that Ampadu potentially could have helped avoid, saying Felix' strike, "deflected in from just outside the box after [Nuno] Mendes skips away from Ampadu."

Ex-Wales striker Sam Vokes said: "You can't allow players like Felix to get shots off at the edge of the box.

"Allowing that time and space is something you cannot do at this level."

After the game, Ampadu admitted that Wales were "disappointed" by the goal they conceded.