Ronaldo out to make history as the European Champions face Belgium in Seville

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Portugal take on Belgium in the last 16 of the European Championships in what is looking to be an exciting clash in Seville.

The European Champions concluded their group stage fixtures against World Champions France on Wednesday, knowing a point would be enough to send them to the knockout stages. Portugal took the lead through a penalty from their captain and talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, however two goals from Frenchman Karim Benzema both sides of halftime turned the game on its head.

It looked at one stage that the holders would be taking an early exit from the competition, as news came through that Hungary were beating Germany in the group’s other game in Munich. But on the hour mark Portugal were awarded another spot kick after Jules Kounde handled Ronaldo’s attempted cross into the area, Ronaldo stepped up once again and slotted it into the bottom corner of the France net, to get the draw they needed.

After being in the so called ‘group of death’ Fernando Santos’ men now take on another one of the competition’s heavyweights, Belgium.

The Red Devils have a impressive start to their Euro 2020 campaign, winning all three of the group games. The most recent of which was a 2-0 victory against tournament debutants Finland in St. Petersburg.

It’s a game which sees Serie A’s two top scorers of the last couple of seasons come head to head, Inter Milan’s Romelu Lukaku and Juventus’ Ronaldo. Lukaku bagged 24 goals for Inter last season, as they lifted their first Scudetto since their historic treble season of 2009/10. Ronaldo, meanwhile scored 29 times in the Italian top flight as Juve secured Champions League Football on the final day of the season.

Both strikers’ club form has spilled over into the European Championships, they are two players who are expected to win the Golden Boot. Ronaldo’s second against France took him onto five goals for the competition, two more than his Belgian counterpart Lukaku (3).

Ronaldo’s brace against the French also took him onto 109 goals for Portugal, should he score tonight in Seville, he would move above become Iran’s Ali Daei to become the all-time leading goalscorer in men’s international football.

Portugal have an impressive record against Roberto Martinez’s side, having not lost to tonight’s opponents since a 3-0 defeat in a World Cup Qualifier in September 1989. In the 32 years since then, they have met on five occasions, with Portugal winning three of those matches.

Their most recent meeting was a goalless draw in Brussels back in June 2018, in what was a warm up match in preparation for that year’s World Cup in Russia. Portugal were knocked out of the following tournament in the last 16, while Belgium would go onto reach the semi-finals, losing to eventual winners France.

But Belgium’s form in all competitions has been very strong, they have lost just twice in their last 30 games which came against the French back in 2018, and England in the Nations League in October of last year.

In what is their first ever meeting at a tournament, Portugal will aim to continue to defence of their European Crown, while Belgium will look to end their recent run against A Seleção as they look to win their first ever major honour.

Victory for either side tonight will set them up a Quarter-Final tie with Italy who beat Austria 2-1 in extra-time at Wembley on Saturday evening. The game against the Azzurri would be played at the Allianz Arena.

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