Portugal – France: They Can’t Keep Getting Away With It! (0-0, 3-5 After Penalties)

Spain awaited the winner of the second Euro quarterfinal between Portugal and France, though neither seemed to keen to face them. Over two hours of viewers’ lives were wasted on a game that seemed destined to be a goalless draw, ultimately leading to penalties in which France were faultless.

Tactical analysis and match report by Neel Shelat.

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Portugal were the best team in Euro qualifying by almost all metrics, but that was largely down to the quality of opposition they faced in their group. They did still look pretty good in their first couple of group games and only lost to Georgia with a B team, but their Round of 16 performance against Slovenia was quite clearly their worst of the tournament. Diogo Costa’s penalty heroics saved the day for them then, but it was very clear that similar performances would not take them much further in the tournament.

If anything, France have been more consistently lackluster over the course of the tournament, yet there was no reason for them to change too much going into this match. They might have created a new record as the only team to play four games at the Euros without a single one of their players scoring from open play, but that was largely down to their forced attacking changes through the group stage and, most of all, Didier Deschamps’ ultra-conservative approach. Their defense looked solid as ever, so they have reason to stick to their approach and leave it to their attacking superstars to come up with just one match-deciding moment.

Portugal did not make any changes to their lineup from the previous game, so Costa started in goal behind Joaõ Cancelo, Rúben Dias, Pepe and Nuno Mendes. Joaõ Palhinha supported Vitinha in midfield with Bruno Fernandes ahead of them, whilst Bernardo Silva and Rafael Leão lined up on either wing with Cristiano Ronaldo down the middle despite his disastrous day against Slovenia.

France made a couple of changes as Randal Kolo Muani and Eduardo Camavinga came in for Marcus Thuram and Adrien Rabiot. The defense was unchanged so Jules Koundé, Dayot Upamecano, William Saliba and Theo Hernández protected Mike Maignan’s goal, N’Golo Kanté and Aurélien Tchouaméni were the other two midfielders with Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé the other attackers.

France sit off in a new block

Under Deschamps, France have always been a pretty passive side out of possession. That has been the case throughout this tournament as well, save for their final group game against Poland in which they started with a high press. They would do no such thing here, instead opting to sit off in a block.

Interestingly, though, they did not drop into their usual 4-2-3-1/4-4-2 shape. Instead, we saw a 4-3-1-2 structure with a split front two, Griezmann as the number ten looking to cut off central passing lanes, the midfield trio prepared to shift across to whichever wing the ball went to, and a high defensive line.

6th minute: France sitting in their 4-3-1-2 block, happy to let the Portuguese center-backs have the ball but not to keen on letting them progress through the middle.

Portugal, for their part, also made some tweaks to their in-possession system. Nuno Mendes had been used as an effective third center-back in the buildup throughout this tournament, but in this match, he too pushed up along the touchline in a more symmetric approach. Leão still stayed high and wide so the Paris Saint-Germain defender could not start too high, whereas Silva often drifted inside from the right wing to allow Cancelo to freely push up. In the middle, Palhinha was the lone number six though Vitinha often dropped alongside him to help build up, leaving Fernandes between the lines who was often joined by Silva.

Initially, Portugal were able to play through the middle using their central rotations, so France quickly sought to snuff that out. They made a couple of tweaks, asking Griezmann to just stand on Palhinha and pushing Kanté up to track Vitinha very closely. With that, Portugal found it tougher to advance through the middle and had to go wide, where Leão was the lone spark supported by Mendes.

France completely devoid of attacking ideas

Despite the above description, Portugal were the team that showed at least a little more attacking endeavor throughout the match because their opponents made next to nothing of their possession. In fact, they failed to take a single shot form inside the box for the first hour of the contest.

France also changed a few things about their in-possession structure in line with their new defensive formation. Tchouaméni regularly dropped to the left of the center-backs to form a back three, freeing up both fullbacks to push up and add width to the attack. The other two midfielders looked to connect the side in the middle, with Griezmann operating as a high number ten behind a split front two of Kolo Muani and Mbappé.

The objective of this setup primarily seemed to be to securely retain the ball and not concede any dangerous counterattacks, so chance creation was a low priority. In any case, they could do very little of it as the front two were incredibly quiet, Griezmann rarely received the ball in a position where he could play a creative pass, and barely anyone occupied the box when one of the fullbacks got in something of a crossing position.

Indeed, this was the problem of this match that many anticipated beforehand. Both teams had attackers who could pose a serious counterattacking threat, so both managers were always going to adopt an ultra-conservative approach focused on not giving away any chances before thinking about creating. Put two and two together, and you get two shots on target in the first hour of the action.

Dembélé adds a spark

The only more attacking change made by either manager was Deschamps’ decision to send Ousmane Dembélé on for Griezmann in the 67th minute, taking his side back to their usual 4-2-3-1 system. Even before that, though, some mistakes were allowing big chances to be created at either end. Portugal sent a couple of very presentable opportunities into Maignan’s grateful hands, whilst Kolo Muani beat the keeper but not Dias when the ball bounced in his path at the other end.

After Dembélé came on, France definitely got the upper hand in terms of attacking threat. Between his introduction and the full-time whistle, they outshot their opponents 9-3, although more than half of their efforts were from outside the box. The PSG attacker was behind most of them, as his dynamic dribbling and ability to cut inside and shoot or go outside and put a cross in led to him shooting twice and creating four chances before the match was extended.

Things were more even in extra time with more presentable chances being squandered at either end and Dembélé continuing to threaten, but penalties looked inevitable soon enough. Indeed, they came, and they were decided by a very slender margin as most takers were flawless but João Félix could only graze the outside of the post.

Takeaways

Portugal will be left ruing their missed chances in this match, but three consecutive games without a goal indicate a deeper attacking issue. Fingers certainly ought to be pointed towards Ronaldo, who missed a couple of golden opportunities on the night and generally served as more of a roadblock than a line leader in what could have been a very exciting Portuguese attack throughout the tournament. He might have overstayed his welcome in the side, but the blame must also fall on the coaching staff for not making a tough decision as Fernando Santos did at the World Cup. Besides him, almost everyone in the Portuguese squad can leave with their heads held high having done well at the Euros.

France, meanwhile, have done it again. They have now gone five games without getting a single one of their players on the scoresheet from open play, and yet, they are in the semifinals. It is tough to argue against the results of Deschamps’ sufferball, but he will know that his defenders were let off after some lapses in this game. The next match against Spain is the one his approach is best suited to as the opposition will take a much more proactive approach, so a result by hook or crook in that game will lead to French fans forgiving all they have been put through at these Euros so far. Once again, France have shown that they have the foundations to get the better of anyone, but now, they must execute against the best-looking team of the tournament.

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