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Anatomy of a Goal: How Hazard, De Bruyne can punish Wales between the lines

Dean Mouhtaropoulos / Getty Images Sport / Getty

A rejuvenated Belgium side meets Wales in Friday's quarter-final contest at Euro 2016, the former looking for a third-ever berth in the last-four of the competition, while the latter, led by Gareth Bale, will be hoping to keep its record-setting tournament alive.

Related - Wales vs. Belgium: Dragons and Devils try set rivals' Euro hopes aflame

For the victor, a semi-final date with Portugal awaits, after Cristiano Ronaldo and company emerged victorious on penalties yesterday against Poland.

While Bale will get much of the attention, and for good reason given his scoring exploits in France thus far, it is the Red Devils, and not the Dragons, who head into the match as favourites. If Chris Coleman's men harbour any hopes of a historic triumph, priority No. 1 will need to be locking down - or at least attempting to lock down - Belgium's dynamic duo of Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne.

The diminutive Chelsea winger was at his explosive best in the 4-0 win over Hungary, his ability to glide past defenders and change speeds reminiscent of his spectacular 2014-15 season. Together with the pasty ginger playmaker, the two men tore the Hungarians to shreds.

Much of their damage came when the two combined with one another, finding dead spots in coverage just outside the Hungarian penalty area.

If Wales is to topple the talented Belgians, it will require 90 (or 120) minutes of supreme concentration, with a specific focus paid to the area between the midfield and defensive lines - where both Hazard and De Bruyne have feasted, ghosting into the spaces vacated by the opposition.

It's something Coleman has presumably drilled into his side after the last-minute group stage defeat to England, where that exact danger area was exploited in the build-up to Daniel Sturridge's 92nd-minute strike.

Looking back at that tally could provide a glimpse into a potential problem area for the Welsh heading into Friday's match at the Stade Pierre Mauroy.

First, the goal in full:

The goal develops thanks in large part to a defensive error by Aaron Ramsey (underlined), as the Arsenal midfielder has a crucial lapse in his recognition of Dele Alli's movement.

Joe Allen (circled) is in relatively good defensive position, able to shuffle left or right to react to the movement of the ball.

When the ball is played into the area to Jamie Vardy (No. 2), everything falls apart for the Welsh. The sinewy striker makes a good run, and Ashley Williams is slow to react to his partner's indication that he is handing him off.

Allen is unable to cut off the service into the area, which in itself isn't entirely debilitating. It only becomes an issue when Ramsey (No. 1) fails to track a clever run by Alli, who darts into the area after the ball is sent to Vardy.

As the ball arrives at Vardy's feet, Alli has already left Ramsey in his wake, the burgeoning Tottenham superstar creating a lane for Vardy to lay the ball off. Ramsey, meanwhile, is already out of the play entirely.

It took a brilliant, instinctive flick from Alli to get the ball to Sturridge, but look where Ramsey is when the Liverpool striker is unleashing his strike:

To be fair, all of this takes place after the bleach-blonde midfielder had spent 90 minutes running around the pitch, putting in ample defensive work against a superior side. It's not his fault that he's human.

The problem, of course, is that Friday's match against Belgium figures to follow an identical pattern as that gut-wrenching loss to the Three Lions: Wales sitting deep, absorbing heavy pressure, and attempting to hit on the counter, waiting for Bale to pull a magical moment out of the hat.

A momentary lapse such as the one above, and Hazard and De Bruyne, now seemingly firing on all cylinders, will ensure that Belgium returns to the semi-finals of the European Championship for the first time in 36 years.

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