The semi-final between Spain and Portugal ended in a draw meaning a penalty shoot-out decided who would be in the final.

The Portuguese side seemingly forgot their order, with Bruno Alves almost reaching the penalty spot before Nani caught up with him to take his place. Nani took an excellent penalty but Alves missed his and Spain won.

The decisions to leave Cristiano Ronaldo until last came under much criticism, with people claiming the former United man wanted all the glory for himself and it backfired. It’s a strange one because no one criticised Chelsea for allowing Didier Drogba to be the 5th penalty taker in the 2012 Champions League final or Steven Gerrard being the 5th in the 2005 Champions League final.

Ronaldo claimed after the game that manager Paul Bento decided on the order but Nani has given a different version of events.

“Cristiano Ronaldo demanded the last penalty,” said Nani. “I said to the coach I would accept any order. It didn’t seem to be a problem to me, because penalty shoot-outs are all about luck and we did not deserve to lose like that. I think we can take pride, showed how good we are against the world champions and I believe we warranted our place in the final. But we look good for the future.”

Did Ronaldo want all the glory or did he think he was best equipped to handle the pressure of the final penalty? Maybe a bit of both. It can be assumed that if Ronaldo hadn’t taken the last penalty and left it to Alves, who missed, everyone would be questioning why the captain didn’t stand up to take the most pressured penalty.