Euro 2024, day 13
Ok everyone, that’s a wrap on the group stages. I am very tired. So very tired. Let’s get into it before I sleep for 48 hours straight.
Ukraine 0-0 Belgium
A draw that did enough for Belgium but not enough for Ukraine. Yes, it’s incredibly weird to finish bottom on the same number of points as the top side. No, Gary Lineker, I don’t think UEFA need to look into this. Weird things can happen in the group stage. It’s fine (unless you’re Ukrainian).
I was reasonably impressed by Belgium in the first two games and not impressed by them at all in this one. The only change was Leandro Trossard coming back in for Dodi Lukébakio, and I still feel like this attack should be a lot more interesting than it is. Kevin De Bruyne is clearly the side’s best player and the team played like a one man band against Ukraine. He both made (8) and received (9) the most progressive passes (per FBRef). He had the most touches overall, and the most in the final third. He had the most shot-creating actions. How do you say “Roy of the Rovers” in Flemish?
I don’t know why it needs to be like that. Belgium have runners in that attack. Let De Bruyne be more of an orchestrator playing balls for Trossard, Jérémy Doku and Romelu Lukaku. They have the players to help make sure he doesn’t need to do it all. Sometimes your best player actually needs to do less. If they just had De Bruyne playing slightly deeper in a midfield three with Amadou Onana and Youri Tielemans, I feel like they’d be able to get more out of moving the ball quickly to the attackers. It’s what I would do with this talent.
By finishing second, Belgium got themselves on the “hard” side of the draw, facing France in Düsseldorf on Monday. As I wrote yesterday, France are much more reliant on Kylian Mbappé than in previous years, so figuring out a plan for him is job one. It might mean doing the opposite of what I just said, and bringing more solidity to the right flank. France certainly should have more quality than Belgium, but I don’t think they’ve got the balance right. It should be a good encounter.
Slovakia 1-1 Romania
Both teams got the draw they needed, but fair play, it wasn’t in a “Disgrace of Gijón” manner.
Slovakia got ahead through Ondrej Duda (no, not the President of Poland) getting on the end of Juraj Kucka’s decent cross. Slovakia gave away a daft penalty for Romania to equalise from shortly after, and it looked like we might get a thriller. You can forgive both sides, though, for slowing down in the second half. They got the scoreline they wanted and didn’t need to get worked up about it. It is what it is.
Romania need to get past the Netherlands, but honestly, this is a good draw for them. It wouldn’t totally shock me if they made a surprising run, even though I don’t think they’re actually very good. Slovakia are set to face the perennial neutrals’ favourites, England, in what’s sure to be an absolute thriller.
Georgia 2-0 Portugal
Georgia figured out what Portugal realised a long time ago: sometimes you just need that one guy who can do something good.