Euro 2016: Wales v/s Northern Ireland - can Gareth Bale emerge victorious in British derby?

The world's most expensive player, Gareth Bale of Wales, will face an ageing goalkeeper looking for a club in Saturday's intriguing all-British showdown against fellow debutants Northern Ireland for a place in the quarter-finals of Euro 2016. 

Wales topped Group B by scoring six goals in total, only losing to England who were the runner ups. Northern Ireland on the other hand scored only two goals so far in the tournament, but managed to secure themselves a spot in the last 16 by being one of the best four in the third position. Bale, who has scored a goal in each game so far to help Wales top their group ahead of England, was expected to shine on the pitches of France.

It is a different story for Michael McGovern, whose heroics in the Northern Ireland goal have earned him a comparison to the great Pat Jennings by coach Martin O'Neill.  While Bale, 26, features prominently in the star-studded Real Madrid outfit, the 31-year-old McGovern is a free agent whose contract with struggling Scottish side Hamilton Academical has just expired. The two now hold the key to Saturday's battle of the European championship first-timers at Parcdes Princes, which Wales will start with an advantage after their convincing displays in the group stages showcased Bale's pace, skills and set-piece expertise. 

Northern Ireland, making their first appearance at a major tournament since the 1982 World Cup, advanced as one of the best third-placed teams, taking full advantage of the expanded 24-team format which helped the less-fancied sides win a moment in the sun. They enjoyed that moment, showing plenty of fighting spirit, helped by a string of fine saves from McGovern, who was instrumental in limiting the damage in a 1-0 defeat by world champions Germany. 

"A few people didn't give us a chance of getting a point when the draw was made," said defender Gareth McAuley. "But that's what Northern Ireland are all about — proving people wrong." It cannot be argued that Wales are not highly dependent on Bale, the world record 85 million pounds forward having scored seven of their 11 goals in qualifying before hitting three more in the opening phase of the tournament to top the scorers' table alongside Spain's Alvaro Morata. 

"At times, Bale has won games extraordinarily," said Wales coach Chris Coleman. "I can understand the one-man team tag if you have a player like him who plays for Real Madrid. He fits our style of play and he enjoys it." 

Deadly Duel

Aaron Ramsey (Wales)

Age: 25

Position: Midfield

Caps: 42

Steven Davis (Northern Ireland)

Age: 31

Position: Midfielder

Caps: 86

Ramsey's dazzling form has been even more striking than his new blond haircut. With a fine goal and two assists, he helped his team not only reach the last 16 but do so as Group B winners ahead of England and Russia. As for Northern Ireland, captain Steven Davis will look to crush the hopes of the Welsh side.​

Match timing: 9.30 pm, June 25 IST

Where to watch: Sony Six, Sony ESPN and live streaming

Predicted starting XI

Wales: W Hennessey, C Gunter, J Chester, J Williams, B Davies, N Taylor, A Ramsey, J Ledley, J Allen, G Bale, H Robson-Kanu.​

Northern Ireland: M McGovern, J Evans, C Cathcart, G McAuley, A Hughes, S Dallas, O Norwood, S Davis, C Evans, J Ward, C Washington

Stat Attack

Wales are unbeaten in the last 5 meetings between Northern Ireland with 2 wins, however 3 of those were draws. Wales have had the better of the countries' 95 encounters: W44 D24 L27. The Welsh are also unbeaten in the last eight of those matches (W4 D4), a run dating back to a 1-0 friendly win for Northern Ireland in 1980.

When the two teams faced each other the last time during friendlies, the match ended with a 1-1 draw.

Did you know?

This is the first ever encounter between two British teams in the knockout stages of a major tournament.

Manager talk

Chris Coleman

Wales coach Chris Coleman is usually happy to oblige when asked to talk about Bale's rare talent but on Friday he spent some time praising the other key player in his squad, Aaron Ramsey.

"Gareth is going to make a difference for any team, of course, but so is Aaron", Coleman told a news conference. Ramsey impressed notably with a scintillating display in a 3-0 victory over Russia in his side's final group game, in which he opened the scoring with a fine goal before being named man of the match. "In possession we were outstanding, we created chance after chance and a lot of that was through Aaron," Coleman said. 

Playing in a slightly different, more attacking role than at Arsenal, the tireless box-to-box midfielder has caught the eye on the pitches of France and not only because of his new bleached hairstyle. He scored a nice goal but also set up two more and his statistics show how much he touches the ball and how accurate his passes are, with 80 percent finding their target. "All areas of his game in this tournament have been excellent," Coleman said. "Positionally, he's better, he's a lot more disciplined with us. But when you have a player with that type of energy, you don't want to restrict him too much, you've got to let him express himself and enjoy himself." 

Michael O'Neill

In contrast to Wales manager approach, Northern Ireland manager Michael O'Neill wants his side to play from heart. 

"Wales won their group, they're in a good place – a great performance against Russia in particular which we've watched back – so we expect a tough game. The teams know each other very well, we obviously played each other in March and drew 1-1. But it's a game we believe we can come through, but we expect a very tough game," said O'Neill.

O'Neill further added that he wants his men to not have an emotionless game as it would serve important in the match against Wales. He said, "The players were really upbeat knowing we would be coming back to the Parcdes Princes. We've played here obviously on Tuesday night against the world champions and I think the experience of doing that will serve us well come the game tomorrow night. We'll have to be at our best, it will be a different type of game."