Bengaluru, July 7: Belgium were one of the strongest teams in Euro 2020 and many expected the World number one to thrive in the tournament. The expectations looked to be on point when they managed a 100% group stage record and beat defending winners Portugal with the Red Devils' golden generation playing a key role for Roberto Martinez’s squad.
However, once again they could not sustain the momentum and were knocked out of the quarter-finals after a 2-1 loss to Italy. It’s the third time this has occurred to Belgium in as many tournaments with quarter-final finishes at Euro 2016 and the 2014 World Cup as well.
Considering the quality and potential in the squad, it surely is a big let-off and these are the probable three reasons that impacted their performance in Euro 2020:
Injuries
Martinez's squad were pretty unlucky with key players suffering petty injuries just before the tournament. Hazard missed the opening game against Russia and looked very off the pace when he did play as well. He has had a good game against Portugal but picked up an injury that forced him to sit out against Italy.
Kevin De Bruyne also has had niggling injury issues throughout the tournament and it was the same case with Axel Witsel as well. First team right-back Timothy Castagne was also ruled out of the tournament after suffering a head injury in the first match of the competition. Consequently, so much change in the line-up pretty often never handed the squad time to create momentum and it created adversarial stability in the team.
Ageing and leaking defence
Belgium's attack and defence looked fully contrasting throughout the tournament. While the attacking third appeared to be glowing every moment, the three-man backline has always looked fragile. All the three options in the defence, Vermaelen, Vertonghen and Alderweireld are in their late thirties and they lacked paced dealing with attackers. Furthermore, the wing-back area also did not look comfortable.
The injury to Castagne handed Thomas Meunier the first-team role while Thorgan Hazard, a winger by trade, had to play the wing-back position on the left. Both of them were impressive while joining the attack but lacked defensive stability. Both of Italy's goals came due to Belgium's lack of defensive awareness.
Tactically Weak
There's no doubt that this Belgium side has been pretty exciting to watch as Martinez has afforded them a lot of freedom in the attack while maintaining basic stability. However, the former Everton boss has lacked that extra tactical edge to make changes to this system to give his side the advantage in big matches.
His records in the big stages are a big proof of that narrative. He could not contain Italy's attack from the wings neither managed to produce more stability in the middle where Italy outclassed them mostly.