Euro 2016: 5 things we learned from Matchday 1
In the quick span of five days, the first round of group games at Euro 2016 have raced past in a flash. With a much larger field and new faces on show, the tournament has so far shown much promise. We've seen images of great goals, also some unsavoury ones of fan clashes outside of the pitch. Here's an attempt at understanding the predominant themes that have been in play through this first round.
#1 We likely won't have high scoring encounters, but the games will be entertaining
First up, it's Europe; European teams generally defend better than their South American or Asian counterparts and as such keep the goal count low. Besides that, this edition of the Euros sees only 8 teams eliminated after the group stage, with the prize of qualification awaiting four of the best third-placed teams.
Teams will, therefore, be looking to give themselves every possible chance to achieve precisely that. With things like goal difference likely to come into play, teams are going to be stingy when it comes to conceding and may not over-commit in attack to avoid the risk of getting caught out.