Belgium-Portugal 1-0: Thorgan Hazard’s goal, Italy challenges Lukaku

Decides a great shot from outside the outside at the end of the first half. Grand finale of the Portuguese: Diogo Jota wastes, then Guerreiro’s stake. Will De Bruyne go out due to injury, will he miss the Azzurri?

Belgium will be Italy’s opponent in the quarter-finals, scheduled for Friday at 9pm in Monaco. Against Portugal, Thorgan Hazard’s goal at the end of the first half was decisive, on the evening in which even his strongest brother, Eden, offers flashes of boundless quality but lately a bit faded. The European championship of the reigning champions of Portugal and Cristiano Ronaldo ends here instead. Which closes in the worst way a season to forget.

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BALANCE

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An equal, it must be said, would not have been scandalous at all. Portugal, at times dominant in the second half, wasted two quite sensational scoring with Diogo Jota, one for half. He hit a post in the 84th minute with Guerreiro and overall produced more football, against a team that always struggles to defend themselves. Thorgan Hazard’s goal from outside the box was decisive, with a Rui Patricio far from flawless in the circumstance.

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ALL FORWARD

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Belgium, who played an unusually defensive second half, also suffered from Andre Silva’s entry alongside CR7. But the Portuguese lacked concreteness, a chronic Portuguese defect that in recent years had been masked by a Ronaldo but now less and less extraterrestrial. Belgium passes: the bad news for Italy, in addition to the overall quality of Martinez’s team, is the return to his levels of Eden Hazard, replaced in the final for a possible stretch. De Bruyne should also be monitored, who was released again with an injury (this time to his ankle after a foul by Pahlinha) at the beginning of the second half. Without him and with Mertens in his place, the difference to the downside was immediately noticeable. And the tried and tested and somewhat worn defensive trio Alderweireld-Vertonghen-Vermaelen was not puncture-proof even years ago …

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