Denmark vs Finland LIVE: Christian Eriksen ‘was gone’ before medical intervention, team doctor reveals

Wales XI: Ward; C. Roberts, Mepham, Rodon, B. Davies; Allen, Morrell, Ramsey; James, Moore, Bale

Switzerland XI: Sommer, Mbabu, Elvedi, Schar, Akanji, Rodriguez; Xhaka, Freuler; Embolo, Shaqiri, Seferovic

Wales’ last outing in the European Championship was an incredible one. They defeated Slovakia and Russia in the group stages to set up a last-16 tie with Northern Ireland which they won 1-0. Then came a quarter-final versus Belgium where the Dragons came from a goal down to win 3-1 and reach the semi-finals. Unfortunately their incredible run ended there as evenutal champions Portugal defeated them 2-0 but nonetheless they exceeded all expectations and had a blast doing so.

Gareth Bale was part of that Wales side and remembers the feeling of setting the Euros ablaze. He said:

“It was an incredible experience. It was one of those things that as a player you always want to do, play in a major tournament against the best international teams, and [it was] something that Wales hadn’t done before. It was something that we’d only watched on TV. But we took it in our stride and we tried to enjoy the occasion.

!For me personally, the Russia game (3-0 in the group stage) was the biggest and the best game that we played there. I know everyone will refer to the Belgium game but after coming off a loss against England, the way we did it, that’s the best football that I’ve been involved in for Wales. We dominated from start to finish, got a clean sheet, scored three goals. That’s the one game that really sticks out the most.”

Switzerland boss Vladimir Petkovic takes charge of Switzerland for the third time in a majore tournament after guiding the Swiss to the last-16 of Euro 2016 and the World Cup two years later.

He hopes that his side can make it further into the knockout stages and pointed at this opening fixture versus Wales as the key game, saying that his team will be ‘120% ready’ for the clash.

“[Wales] are awkward customers: very compact defensively and good in one-on-one situations.” said Petkovic.

“They also have a lot of good quality in the final third of the pitch. We want to dominate play, we want to get hold of the ball, we want to dictate the tempo of the game and we also want to have a cutting edge in the final third and score goals. To do all of that we need to be very focused.”

Italy set the pace in Group A with a resounding 3-0 victory over Turkey last night in the opening fixture of Euro 2020. That leaves the door open for one of either Wales or Switzerland to put down a marker of their own this afternoon as they come face-to-face at the Baku Olympic Stadium in Azerbaijan.

The match promises to be a close contest with both teams sporting top talent but who can find that edge to take them to victory? Here’s how we see the second Group A fixture playing out:

Interim Wales boss Robert Page has a fully fit squad to chose from as he selects his starting XI against Switzerland later today. There were some doubts over the fitness of Aaron Ramsey after the midfielder missed training on Thursday.

Ramsey declared himself fit to play and Page says that managing players workloads for the tournament was a pre-arranged plan.

"To get to the eve of the competition with a full squad of 26, credit must go to the backroom staff and medical team.” he said.

"I spoke to Aaron a month ago and we had a great conversation about what he needed.

"That’s the way football is going - it’s about what we need collectively and then, individually, sometimes it’s about a bespoke plan and we’ve done that with Aaron, and we’ve done it with Gareth [Bale] in the past. It’s worked."

“There is a strong argument that the international game isn’t even behind the club game in terms of tactics. It may well have gone down a completely different evolutionary line, to the point there is going to be less and less crossover.”

Is international football now entirely removed from the domestic club scene? From changing tactics to dressing room hierarchies, coordinated fitness regimes and mixed expectations, there are huge gulfs between what managers can do on a week-to-week basis with their players, and what international bosses must try to achieve in a short space of time.

Miguel Delaney explains here why Euro 2020 is a whole new game and why the year-long battle players have faced with fatigue could come to a head over summer.

If you missed anything from the opening night’s action, well, there was plenty to take in: fireworks, a classic rendition of Nessun dorma, a tiny remote-controlled car and Roberto Mancini looking extremely suave - all before kick-off.

Italy then proceeded to grind down and eventually hammer Turkey in deserved fashion, 3-0 the final score with all three goals coming in the second half.

An own goal and further strikes from Ciro Immobile and Lorenzo Insigne got the Azzurri off to a good start - Miguel Delaney has the recap and report from the first 90 minutes at Euro 2020.

It was a party for the ages in Wales back at Euro 2016, when Chris Coleman’s side beat Belgium to reach the semi-finals in entirely unexpected fashion.

This time around the task is to match what came before, however difficult that might prove - and one of their heroes from five years ago, Sam Vokes, spoke to Richard Edwards to explore the feelings around the Welsh squad as they look to re-make history.

“Just to get to the tournament was a huge achievement at the time,” says Vokes.

“It was such a big thing for the country. Only a few years before that I had been playing at the Millennium Stadium and there were only 8000 people in there for some games supporting us.

“It’s important to get a good start. We started well in 2016, getting the winner against Slovakia in the last 10 minutes and that really set the whole thing off.

“I think we’re going to need something similar against Switzerland to get us up and running. Can Wales get out of the group? Definitely. then who knows? Once you get into the last 16 then its effectively a play-off every match.”

There’s no question that the Real Madrid man - on loan at Spurs last season - needs to be at his best level if Wales are to be successful this summer, whether that means progressing to the knock-outs or going as far as they did five years ago, to the last four.

The positive news is that Bale himself feels he’s in great shape to do exactly that, having ended the season in good form under interim boss Ryan Mason.

“I feel good, fit and sharp and ready to go,” he said ahead of today’s clash.

“I scored quite a few goals in the last three or four months of the season and my performances were getting better and better each game.

“I’ve timed my fitness hopefully to perfection and hopefully I continue that in this tournament.

“It would be nice to score every game but it doesn’t matter who scores or creates the goals. The objective for the whole team – the whole nation – is that we win games.

“As long as we can get wins, or not losses, and get out of this group we will be very happy.”

A summer of anticipation and excitement for Wales and Switzerland starts here, as the two nations begin their Euro 2020 campaign with a Group A clash in Baku. Rob Page will be hoping to inspire his squad - and the country - with a strong opening performance, giving the Dragons an ongoing chance of reaching the knock-out phase.

Picking up a positive result here would be a huge boost to Wales’ chances, but they face a very strong Switzerland squad packed with talent from the Premier League and Bundesliga in particular.

Left-footed stars of each national team’s attack will be firmly under the spotlight here: Gareth Bale for Wales and Xherdan Shaqiri for Switzerland. Both play a central role in chance creation and goalscoring for their respective countries and if either one shines here, the chances of picking up three points will be significantly increased.