Cristiano Ronaldo has last word in battle of the superstars

Portugal 2 Wales 0: It shouldn’t be all about Cristiano Ronaldo, it really shouldn’t, but from the moment people labelled this match as Ronaldo v Bale you knew there was no way on earth he was going to settle for second best — and that’s why Wales are finally out of Euro 2016 and Portugal can look forward to the final in Paris on Sunday.

Ronaldo’s spectacular header ended Wales’ historic run in this tournament and he even claimed an assist, of sorts, as his shot was deflected home by Nani to secure a result which left Wales proud but heartbroken — and with no-one in any doubt that CR7 still wears the crown both at Real Madrid and here in France.

There were other heroes on the pitch for Portugal, of course, as Fernando Santos’ men defended well, were competitive in midfield and used Nani and Renato Sanches as very useful outlets when Ronaldo was tightly marked. But the more the match went on, and the more space Ronaldo found, the bigger a danger he was and the more certain it was Wales were going home.