When the going gets tough, the tough take the field. After the first Saturday of di round of 16, which saw the passage to the quarters of Denmark and Italy of Roberto Mancini, and after the afternoon match between the Netherlands and the Czech Republic, this evening all 21 the real first goes on stage big match of the elimination phase of Euro 2020: at the Estadio de la Cartuja in Seville they face each other Roberto Martinez’s Belgium and Fernando Santos’s Portugal, defending champion. The first of Group B against the third of Group F, behind France and Germany, but above all Romelu Lukaku vs Cristiano Ronaldo, who against France reached Ali Daei as the first scorer with 109 goals with the national team and became the top scorer between European and World Cup with 21 goals, in the European re-edition of Inter-Juventus: whoever passes between the two will face the Azzurri, Friday 2 July at 9 pm, in Munich, in the quarter-finals of the competition. The knockout stage takes no prisoners and will see one of the candidates come out for the final victory. From 1 ‘also De Bruyne and Hazard, while on the other side Bruno Fernandes and Diogo Jota are ready.
STATISTICS AND BACKGROUND – What will be staged will be the nineteenth confrontation between the two teams: The overall balance smiles at Portugal by virtue of the 6 victories obtained against the 7 draws and the 5 affirmations of Belgium. Belgium reached the knockout stage in each of their last five appearances in one of the major international tournaments (European and World Cup), reaching the semifinal in the last 2018 World Cup. On that occasion the defeat against France which then won the 2018 World Cup, it was the only one of the last 10 games played in major international tournaments in which the Belgian national team failed to win (9V). On the other hand, Portugal has just returned from triumph at Euro 2016, but in the group they only scored four points, the worst haul for a defending champion team from Greece in 2008. Cristiano Ronaldo against France became the player to have scored the highest number of goals between European and World Cups, thanks to the brace that allowed him to overtake Miroslav Klose (19) reaching 21 goals.
OFFICIAL FORMATIONS:
Belgium (3-4-2-1): Courtois; Alderweireld, Vertonghen, Vermaelen; Meunier, Tielemans, Witsel, T. Hazard; De Bruyne, E. Hazard; lukaku.
Portugal (4-3-3): Rui Patricio; Dalot, Ruben Dias, Pepe, Warrior; Joao Moutinho, Palhinha, Renato Sanches; Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota.
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