Euro 2016: Belgium boss Marc Wilmots warns Uefa against punishing England and Russia for Marseille violence

Belgium are preparing to face Italy in Lyon and hope to redirect focus back to the football

Marc Wilmots acknowledges the violence in Marseille is a 'very difficult debate' (Getty)

The Belgium manager, Marc Wilmots, has warned Uefa against punishing England and Russia by docking them points or throwing them out of the European Championship.

With Uefa reserving the right to take every possible measure, including expulsion from Euro 2016, should there be a repetition of the violence in Marseille, Wilmots said it would simply punish the players for the actions of what he called “pseudo supporters”.

“It is a very difficult debate,” he said before overseeing final preparations for Monday night’s encounter with Italy. “Should you really punish the players by taking points from them because of the behaviour of these pseudo supporters?

“I watched one terrible image of a father fleeing the violence with his child. That cannot be allowed to happen inside a stadium. I can only really talk about our public. I can only hope they can have a party in Lyon. I am proud of them because our fans always respect their opponents.”

There will be nearly 18,000 of them at the Stade des Lumieres – one of three European arenas that goes under the name of “The Stadium of Light”. After the darkness that fell over Marseille before during and after England’s encounter with Russia, the tournament could do with some illumination.

This will be a first clash of the big beasts of Euro 2016 and it is Belgium, who finished third in the World Cup while Italy were eliminated in the group stages, who are favourites.

Nevertheless, the absence of Vincent Kompany, who is very much more than a captain to this Belgium side, is an obvious weak point.

However, Thomas Vermaelen will have a Manchester City centre-half alongside him but it is likely to be Jason Denayer, a 20-year-old product of the club’s academy who has been loaned out first to Celtic and then to Galatasaray.

Denayer’s last start for Belgium, a narrow 3-2 win over Norway, was not a success and Wilmots was forced to withdraw him after 66 unconvincing minutes. However, Kompany has been a source of support to the young defender.

“He came over and told me about the highs and lows of his career,” Denayer said. “He told me that I should never let my head drop. We lack something when Kompany is not here. He is an excellent leader. We are always going to need someone like him.”

For this tournament, that leader is Eden Hazard, which might seem to some a strange choice. The winger does not appear natural captaincy material, he clashed frequently with Jose Mourinho at Chelsea and at every Belgium press conference he is asked whether he gets on with Kevin de Bruyne.

However, Hazard will have motivation enough in Lyon, where he will have two managers to impress – Wilmots and the man who will take over at Chelsea, Antonio Conte. “I am very happy to be up against my future manager,” Hazard said “I want to show him precisely what I can do. My goal is to do it by reaching the final but, as we have seen with France and England’s opening games, nothing is going to be easy in this tournament.”

Eden Hazard has a point to prove this summer (Getty)

One of the criticisms of this tournament is that by increasing the number of teams from 16 to 24, Uefa have created some decidedly easy groups. With Sweden and the Republic of Ireland in the mix with Belgium and Italy, this is not one of them.

For Conte this will be his only shot at taking Italy through a tournament and he is not taking any chances. Not only will he be relying of the core of the Juventus side he took to back-to-back Serie A titles, he refused the option to train at the stadium in case his tactics were spied on by Wilmots’ backroom staff. Instead, all Italy’s preparations were done behind the closed doors of their training base at Montpellier.

To those who watched them complain endlessly about the heat in Brazil during the World Cup, this is a familiar Italian paranoia. There are, however, unlikely to be too many surprises when the team sheets are handed in. Most expect Conte to go with three centre backs – all from Juventus – with Manchester United’s Matteo Darmian employed on the left as a wing-back.

Wilmots seemed unconcerned by all the secrecy. “The Italians are at their most dangerous when they are pushed into a corner,” he said. “Conte could well be preparing a team of warriors. I can see why Conte has done what he has done but I am not bothered. I have no fear of spies.”