France and Portugal joined Switzerland, Germany, England and Spain in the European Championship quarter-finals on Monday, largely thanks to both sides’ defence.
We’ve got the key Euro 2024 Fantasy notes from both round of 16 ties here.
FRANCE 1-0 BELGIUM
LES BLUES’ RESILIENT DEFENCE…
Good chances were in short supply in Dusseldorf, with Jan Vertonghen’s late own goal giving France a narrow win.
It has allowed them to kick on into the quarter-finals, with their success to date firmly based on solid defensive foundations.
Indeed, Randal Kolo Muani’s (€7.9m) strike going down as an own-goal means Les Blues are still yet to score from open play at Euro ’24.
They’ve kept three clean sheets in four, however, with Jules Kounde (€5.0m) and William Saliba (€5.5m) both excellent against Belgium.
Kounde won the Player of the Match award, with his forward runs frequently found by his team-mates. Overall, he received 27 passes in the final-third, whilst creating more chances than any other player on the pitch (five).
Among all players in the official Fantasy game, Kounde now trails only Zan Karnicnik and Jamal Musiala (€8.5m) for points:
Saliba, meanwhile, dominated Romelu Lukaku and even went close to scoring in the second half.
Didier Deschamps may have failed to find the right formula in attack so far, but his stubborn defence is world class.
… AND MISFIRING ATTACK
So the French backline was solid once more, but there is plenty of room for improvement in the final-third.
They have had 67 shots in their four matches at Euro ’24, just three nations have attempted more, but netted only three times. Even then, their goals came via two own-goals and a Kylian Mbappe (€11.0m) penalty.
It puts their shot conversion rate at just 4.5%, the lowest of any side still in the competition:
| Team | Games played | Shots | Goals | Shot conversion rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 3 | 30 | 6 | 20% |
| Switzerland | 4 | 46 | 7 | 15.2% |
| Germany | 4 | 72 | 10 | 13.9% |
| Romania | 3 | 32 | 4 | 12.5% |
| Spain | 4 | 82 | 9 | 11% |
| Netherlands | 3 | 40 | 4 | 10% |
| Turkey | 3 | 51 | 5 | 9.8% |
| England | 4 | 45 | 4 | 8.9% |
| Portugal | 4 | 73 | 5 | 6.8% |
| France | 4 | 67 | 3 | 4.5% |
Deschamps opted for a 4-3-3 formation on Monday, with Mbappe playing off the left, Antoine Griezmann (€9.0m) on the right and Marcus Thuram (€7.0m) through the middle.
The trio combined for 11 shots, but they weren’t of great quality, with only one deemed a ‘big chance’ by Opta.
As for Mbappe, he once again wore a protective mask, something he said was “absolutely horrible” leading up to Monday’s clash.
“He’s getting used to it. He’s getting better with it. You’ve got the sweat aspect and we know sweat can get in his eyes. He’s getting used to it, but it can affect his vision. He says it’s like he’s seeing things in 3D. Everything in front of him is fine, but there’s a delay with his peripheral vision. But he’ll have to get used to it over the coming weeks or months.” – Didier Deschamps on Kylian Mbappe
France will now meet Portugal in the quarter-finals, but they’ll have to do it without central midfielder Adrien Rabiot (€6.5m), who picked up his second caution of the tournament against Belgium.
PORTUGAL 0-0 SLOVENIA (PORTUGAL WIN 3-0 ON PENS)
RONALDO DENIED
Cristiano Ronaldo (€10.0m) is still without a goal at Euro ’24, having seen his extra-time penalty saved by Jan Oblak in Frankfurt.
That’s despite racking up eight shots against Slovenia and 20 in total during the tournament, at least five more than any other player.
To put that stat into context, top-scorers Ivan Schranz, Georges Mikautadze and Musiala have combined for 18.
Ronaldo did at least score in the shoot-out, but on Monday’s evidence, breaching France’s backline will be a tough ask in the quarters.
It isn’t all on Ronaldo, however.
Portugal had 71.6% possession against Slovenia, but just one of their 20 shots was clear-cut, and their current tactic of getting the ball wide and putting crosses into the box often feels predictable.
It clearly isn’t getting the best out of their playmakers, including Bruno Fernandes (€9.0m), who dropped into a deeper role following Vitinha’s (€6.0m) substitution on 64 minutes.
COSTA HEROICS
The points did at least roll in for Portugal’s backline options in Matchday 4.
Diogo Costa (€5.0m) saved penalties from Josip Ilicic, Jure Balkovec and Benjamin Verbic in the shoot-out to claim the Player of the Match award, while Joao Cancelo (€6.0m) was lively down the right, with his 71 touches in the opponents half only beaten by one other player (Fernandes).
“I think Portugal’s secret is Diogo Costa. Diogo Costa is the most hidden secret in European football and today he showed up. Today I think he reached a completely different level. The one-on-one situation was incredible. Then he had the focus to make three consecutive saves. We have to be very proud of him.” – Roberto Martinez
Pepe (€5.0m) produced the biggest haul, mind, despite making a huge mistake in midfield which nearly gifted Benjamin Sesko the opener.
He banked a whopping 13 ball recoveries against Slovenia to earn 10 points in total, taking him to 23 overall at Euro ’24.
As for Palhinha (€5.9m), he was effective screening the back four and not far behind on 12 ball recoveries. He also hit the outside of the post with a shot in the first-half.
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