The Real Madrid superstar is leading his country at the European Championships but the identity of the squad around him would appear to matter little to his army of fans
COMMENT
There is no I in Team – as the old saying goes – but that ceased to matter when Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo emerged as the game’s chief proponents. Those two have contested an individual battle against each other for the best part of a decade with team clashes between Barcelona and Real Madrid at most a sub plot. We are living through a football age defined like no other by veneration of individuals.