Belgium 2-0 Romania analysis: Red Devils exploit the space
Sunday, June 23, 2024
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UEFA's performance analysis unit takes a look at how Belgium got their first win of EURO 2024 with victory against Romania.
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Belgium bounced back from an opening defeat at UEFA EURO 2024 with a Group E victory against Romania which highlighted the quality of their attacking transitions.
For UEFA technical observer Aitor Karanka, the ability of Domenico Tedesco's side to exploit space behind Romania's defence with "long passes to Romelu Lukaku and quick transitions" was pivotal. The video below offers several examples of this threat, notably when attacking the space behind the full-backs.
The first clip from the opening period shows how high the Romania full-backs are as Belgium win the ball inside their own half. When Kevin De Bruyne then drives forward, he carries the ball into the space highlighted on the left before coming inside, helped by striker Lukaku drawing a defender with him on his run to the left.
Rather than look to Lukaku, De Bruyne feeds the unmarked Dodi Lukebakio on the right and the winger has time to cut inside before unloading a shot.
This was an evening when Belgium looked to play high up the pitch and, as opposition coach Edward Iordănescu admitted, when the Red Devils won the ball, they gave Romania problems. "They have speed, they have explosiveness, power," said Iordănescu, who felt that Romania struggled with "the box-to-box tempo".
According to the UEFA performance analysis unit, a pivotal feature of Belgium's counterattacking game was De Bruyne's intelligence between the lines and ability to run into the right spaces. Clip two highlights his movement as Belgium regain the ball through Jérémy Doku's interception in the centre circle and hit the space behind the full-backs once more.
As the telestration displays, Romania right-back Andrei Rațiu has pushed up and Lukaku feeds De Bruyne into the space behind in a sequence that ends with the captain delivering a low ball which just evades Doku.
As a measure of De Bruyne's ability to find space, he received the ball between the lines seven times. He also produced ten line-breaking passes and we see him do both in the final clip, collecting the ball from Youri Tielemans after a regain and delivering a through ball for Lukaku, who peels off the shoulder of his marker and races clear for a shot which beats goalkeeper Florin Niță. Unfortunately for the striker, for the third time already at this tournament, he saw the goal ruled out – in this case, for offside.
Reflecting on Belgium's threat, coach Tedesco told EURO2024.com afterwards: "We had control of the game and many transition situations also – a lot of possession and a lot of situations where we can and have to score more." Indeed, he felt his team could have had "three, four or five goals" in the wake of Tielemans' second-minute opener.
Instead, they added just the one from De Bruyne late on as the Player of the Match scored for his country in a fourth major tournament. As Aitor Karanka, the match observer, concluded: "Belgium did many things well – they carried a big threat and it was De Bruyne who made the difference at the end."
Technical observers at EURO 2024
