Portugal, Germany Jostle for Round of 16 Ticket

EURO 2020…EURO 2000… EURO 2020…

When the fixtures for the Euro 2020 was made and defending champions Portugal were pitched alongside world champions France and European football powerhouse, Germany in group F, the group was immediately tagged ‘Group of Death’ and it has not failed to live up to its billing. That is why Europe would be on a standstill as Cristian Ronaldo’s Portugal would be hoping to cement their position in the group having won their first match, while Germany would be going for broke after losing their going down to France in their first match

Portugal will be looking to book their spot in the knockout round of the European Championship with one match to spare when they take on Germany in Munich today.

Fernando Santos’s side opened their Euro 2020 campaign with a 3-0 win over Hungary, but Germany have work to do in Group F, having suffered a 1-0 loss to tournament favourites France.

Portugal were actually level with Hungary approaching the final stages of their contest in Budapest, and it did appear that it would be a frustrating start to the section for the reigning champions.

However, Raphael Guerreiro made the breakthrough in the 84th minute of the contest before Cristiano Ronaldo came up with a late double to make it a three-goal success for Portugal and ensure that he would become the all-time leading goalscorer in European Championship history.

Santos’s side will head into today’s clash knowing that a win would book their spot in the last-16 stage of the competition, while they would confirm a position in the top two if they triumph and Hungary do not overcome France in Group F’s other contest on the same night.

A Selecao have a strong overall record in this competition, reaching the semi-finals in 1984, 2000 and 2012, while they were present in the final eight of Euro 1996 and Euro 2008. Portugal were also runners-up on home soil at Euro 2004 and are, of course, the holders, having beaten France 1-0 in the final of Euro 2016. Santos’s team are now on a seven-game unbeaten run in all competitions, but they have lost each of their last four international fixtures with Germany, including a 4-0 defeat when the two teams last locked horns at the 2014 World Cup.

Germany, meanwhile, will enter this key contest off the back of a 1-0 defeat to France on Tuesday, with an own goal from Mats Hummels deciding the contest in Munich.
In truth, it was a disappointing performance from Joachim Low’s side, who struggled to create opportunities, and it will be fascinating to see whether there are any changes for this clash with Portugal.

Die Mannschaft will be unable to finish in the top two positions if they lose this match and Hungary do not beat France, but third, which could potentially bring a spot in the round of 16, would still be open.
Germany will be desperate to bounce back today, though, as they bid to qualify for the knockout round of the European Championship for the fourth time in succession. Having won the tournament in 1996, the Germans then failed to make it out of the group stage in 2000 and 2004. DFB-Elf finished as runners-up at Euro 2008 before making the semi-finals in 2012 and 2016, though, and it would not be a surprise to see them advance deep into this competition despite their issues against France.
In the other group game, France will aim to maintain their perfect start to Euro 2020 when they make the long journey to Budapest to face off against Hungary today.

The hosts fell victim to a 3-0 defeat to a Cristiano Ronaldo-inspired Portugal during their first game, while France started as they mean to go on with a 1-0 success over Germany.

The almost alien sight of a full arena of spectators was a breath of fresh air as Hungary welcomed Portugal to the Puskas Arena on Tuesday, and the reigning champions failed to make their dominance count until a seven-minute flurry in the dying embers of the match.

After substitute Szabolcs Schon had a goal ruled out for offside, Portugal drew first blood in the 84th minute as Raphael Guerreiro’s effort trickled past Peter Gulacsi, and the man for the international stage Ronaldo would add a further two strikes to break Michel Platini’s European Championship goalscoring record.
Hungary manager Marco Rossi took the blame on the day after making in-game alterations which he felt did not pay off, but the 56-year-old witnessed his determined outfit keep Ronaldo and company at bay for 84 minutes on the day, and that is certainly something to be applauded.

Occupying a spot in the group of death with France, Germany and Portugal was always expected to end in dismay for Hungary whose 11-game unbeaten streak across all competitions was ended at the hands of Portugal but Rossi’s men have proven that they will not go down waving the white flag.

A shock result against 2014 World Cup winners Germany – who also lost their opening game could yet spell a remarkable third-placed finish for 37th-ranked Hungary, who were eliminated by Belgium in the last-16 stage five years ago, but not many will be placing bets on Rossi’s men getting one over the reigning world champions.

Karim Benzema and Kylian Mbappe will not be making friends with the officials anytime soon after both strikers had goals disallowed versus Germany on matchday one, but Didier Deschamps’s men nevertheless managed to sink Die Mannschaft five years after dumping them out of the Euro 2016 semi-finals. With 20 minutes on the clock, veteran defender Mats Hummels inadvertently turned Lucas Hernandez’s cross into his own net for the game’s only goal, as France made the ideal start to their group of death campaign en route to an expected top-two finish in the group.

Les Bleus will renew hostilities with their 2016 final opponents Portugal next Wednesday and will be desperate to enact revenge on Fernando Santos’s men, so sweeping aside a normally resilient Hungary outfit would be the perfect tonic for the early favourites, who have now won five in a row with five clean sheets to boot.

Roberto Mancini’s well-drilled Italy outfit are the only nation in Europe to boast more clean sheets than France since the turn of the year, and another shut-out on Hungarian soil would see Les Bleus register six successive clean sheets for the first time since 2007 – when they were under the tutelage of the ever-controversial Raymond Domenech.
Furthermore, France head into today’s game on a five-match winning streak against Hungary – who have not prevailed over Les Bleus since 1976 – and goals from Djibril Cisse and Florent Malouda saw France win 2-1 the last time these sides met in a 2005 friendly.