And so the jury is still out on Cristiano Ronaldo. The criticism most commonly levelled at Manchester United's Portuguese superstar is that he is not the man for the big occasion, a player who has not always performed in the games that count.
On Wednesday it seemed for a while as if that criticism had been laid to rest forever. Tormenting Chelsea's makeshift fullback Michael Essien in the early stages, he then rose above the helpless Ghanaian to power a header into the corner reminiscent of his goal against Roma earlier in the tournament.
A few minutes later he then combined thrillingly with Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez in a sweeping move that, had Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech not blocked the Argentine's diving header, would have gone down as one of the greatest goals ever scored in a Champions League final. 
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