In an era of Messi and Ronaldo and super clubs, the plot lines of football are well defined. The France vs Portugal match up is effectively a repeat of the Ronaldo vs. Griezmann battle albeit in very different circumstances. Ronaldo came out on top the last time they faced each other, Griezmann – who missed a penalty in that game has been in fine form and is currently top scorer in the tournament. A Portugal victory will definitely reinforce Ronaldo’s claim for the Ballon d’or this year and cement his status, while Griezmann has a chance to put himself in the running with a France victory.

Didier Deschamps has faced a lot of personnel issues. Key players like Varane, Sakho and Lassana Diarra, Benzema and Valbuena – were unavailable for different reasons. Deschamps has carefully managed the situation very well. He dropped Pogba and Griezmann in the group stages and both players have done well to redeem themselves since then, Griezmann particularly. He has also tweaked his formation at the right moments, going from a 4-3-3 to 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-1-1 to a lesser extent.

The Portuguese are a unique side in that despite not having any clear strengths, they are quite complex to break down. Effectively, they are 7/10 across the board. In Ronaldo, they have the machine that always gives them a shouting chance. The France being the hosts, immediately makes them (a team with Cristiano Ronaldo) underdogs. The French will be encouraged to play on the front foot, giving Portugal the opportunity to stay compact in their half as they did in their last match. Fernando Santos has not done much tweaking in terms of his formation, only changing to a 4-3-3 once in this tournament. He has operated with a 4-1-3-2 formation mainly, and replacing Moutinho with Renato Sanches has seen them transition from a possession based side to a more direct approach.

Records

• Ronaldo can equal Iniesta’s man of the match record of 6 with another award in the final. He currently has 5 – 1 in 2008, 2 in 2012, 2 in 2016
• Ronaldo is the top scorer of all time in the competition’s history alongside Platini with 9 goals, 5 of which have been headers.
• Griezmann is now second top goal scorer for France at the Euros with 6 alongside Henry and only behind Platini.
• Portugal have lost their last 10 games against France.