“Germany have the mastery,” said French coach Didier Deschamps, deep into the Parisian night at his press conference after Les Bleus had cast romanticism and Iceland out of the tournament with a dashing 5-2 victory. Journalists quizzed Deschamps about the daunting prospect of playing the world champions. He offered classic diatribe, "Germany remains Germany," but Deschamps’s analysis about mastery was accurate, because no other semi-finalist will be as in control as the Germans.

Against both Slovakia and Italy, they played as world champions, imperious in their application, flexible in their game plan. Into the waning moments of their round of 16 match, Germany pressed so high up the field that defending close to their own byline became problematic for the Slovakians. Joachim Low solved his own little puzzle by starting Joshua Kimmich at right-back and Mario Gomez up front. Germany’s tactical astuteness against Italy was sublime.

Turniermannschaft vs a team in flux

They had delivered the attacking football observers had been waiting for against Slovakia and then broke a psychological barrier by ousting the Squadra Azzurra for the first time from a major tournament. Germany have yet again proved that they are the ultimate Turniermannschaft, the tournament team.

Will the absence of the suspended Mats Hummels and the injured Mario Gomez, and the doubts over the fitness of both Bastian Schweinsteiger and Sami Khedira, all part of the German spine, pose distinct problems for Die Mannschaft? Yes, and Low will have to tinker with his balance and reconfigure his XI, but Germany have the maturity to navigate personnel shortages.

France, however, is still a team in flux. After five games against modest opposition – Romania, Albania, Switzerland, Ireland and Iceland – Deschamps still has to settle for a fixed formation. Deschamps is hesitant in choosing between a 4-3-3 (A) and a 4-2-3-1 (B) line-up. France's five-match timeline reads:

Match 1: A to B; match 2: B to A; match 3: A; match 4: A to B; match 5: B.

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Deschamps’s indecisiveness reflects his desire to offer the best conditions for his talismanic players, Paul Pogba and Antoine Griezmann, both of whose form has fluctuated this tournament.

France is a Belgium B. The traits are similar. Les Bleus have a distinct lack of identity, game plan and strategy during the game, but they have gone a stage further than the much-heralded Red Devils. Deschamps is a good occupational therapist, but not a tactical genius.

After two years of preparation in friendlies and glorified qualifiers, DD leads an amorphous team: 4-3-3 offers more defensive safety in the shape of midfielder N’Golo Kante from English champions Leicester City, but in 4-2-3-1 France, belatedly, found attacking fluency against Iceland. In Blaise Matuidi and Pogba, in his less favored right channel marshaling the midfield, lies a vulnerability that Toni Kroos, Germany’s general, could exploit.

Battle of the Galacticos

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Portugal, who play Wales in the first semi-final, are in the same predicament. There is little congruence to its game either. It’s not about a choice between A or B, but rather a question of: is there an A at all? Portugal have reached their fourth semi-final at the European championship since 2000, when Luis Figo and Nuno Gomes were undone by Zinedine Zidane, but that achievement comes with another far less-impressive record: the Portuguese have not won a single game inside regular playing time at Euro 2016. They have only been in a winning position for 22 minutes during the entire tournament.

Portugal’s mantra has been caution – vigilance, that has sparked comparisons with Greece during Euro 2004, who progressed game after game with a rigid defense, even when the momentum turned against them. Portugal were involved in the tournament’s worst game – 117 minutes of dour and dull football that Cristiano Ronaldo and Luka Modric were all too happy to engage in.

Ronaldo vs Gareth Bale will be another Galactic encounter, but that can’t be the preponderant narrative of Portugal’s semi-final. First, the Seleção need to determine a set playing style against Wales, who have one and won’t hesitate to employ caution or a deep defensive line. The Welsh are in the same spectrum as Germany, masters of their game, but without a suspended Aaron Ramsey their semi-final becomes an arduous and treacherous task. Ramsey floated between the Belgian lines in the quarter-final, a performance he had scarcely produced at Arsenal in an injury-torn season. He is the pivot in linking the defense with the speed of Gareth Bale.

The Welsh coach Chris Coleman eulogised Ramsey as "incredible" and "one of the best players of the tournament", but also stressed, more in folly than genuine belief, that his replacement would know "the drill". For Coleman, it’s back to the drawing board to design a plan B. And so, in the tournament’s denouement, Germany seem the only team truly in control of their destiny.