Poll of the Day: Was Ronaldo right to wait for the fifth penalty?

Jun 28, 2012 9:35:00 AM

The Real Madrid star was deprived of the chance to even take a spot-kick in Wednesday's semi-final shoot-out, and Goal.com wants to know what you have to say on the matter

Wednesday's Euro 2012 semi-final between Portugal and Spain was too close to call, and inevitably went to the lottery of a penalty shoot-out to decide which team would progress to Sunday's tournament decider.

In a dramatic shoot-out, Xabi Alonso saw his opening penalty saved by Seleccao stopper Rui Patricio, only for Iker Casillas to save Joao Moutinho’s effort for the Portuguese.

Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta and Sergio Ramos then scored for La Roja, with Pepe and Nani replying for Portugal - before Bruno Alves missed for Paulo Bento’s side.

Cesc Fabregas stepped up to drill home the deciding penalty, robbing Ronaldo - who had opted to take the potentially-crucial fifth spot-kick - of the chance to even feature in the shoot-out.

Immediately after the contest, Ronaldo was subject to claims that he should not have shirked his penalty responsibilities.

HAVE YOUR SAY
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Champions League final - LIVE!

German giants Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund will battle it out at Wembley for European glory. Get involved by sending us your thoughts via Twitter or Facebook! Hosted by Mark Doyle.

6:40 PM BST

And now the Bayern line-up! The only small surprise here is that Jerome Boateng has been preferred to Daniel van Buyten alongside Dante at the heart of the defence. As expected, Mario Mandzukic has got the nod up front ahead of Mario Gomez.

Bayern Munich: Neuer; Lahm, Dante, Boateng, Alaba; Martinez, Schweinsteiger; Robben, Muller, Ribery; Mandzukic.

6:36 PM BST

Borussia Dortmund have announced their starting line-up for tonight's Champions League final!! And it's as we predicted, with Kevin Grosskreutz starting on the left-hand side and Marco Reus moving infield to fill the void left by the injured Mario Gotze.

Dortmund XI v Bayern: Weidenfeller; Piszczek, Subotic, Hummels, Schmelzer; Gundogan, Bender; Blaszczykowski, Reus, Grosskreutz; Lewandowski.

6:31 PM BST

Questions rolling in for our own Carlo Garganese over on Twitter, the most left-field of which comes 'I'm Moeg, Sien jy! ‏@MurGyver 34s', who writes:

"Is it true that players can't wear underwear in the final?"

Surely you have to log on now for no other reason than to find out the answer to that cracking enquiry?!

6:26 PM BST

Bayern have arrived at Wembley! The legendary Lothar Mattheus will obviously be cheering on die Roten this evening, but he is just hoping that Fussball is the winner tonight:

"The whole world will watch the game," the World Cup winner told Sky Sport Germany. "It electrifies the masses. Never before there was so much talk about a Champions League final than this time.

"Both groups of fans know the whole world is watching. We have to present ourselves similar to the way we did at WC 2006 because it brings a lot of sympathy. Today we have another chance to present Germany in a positive way."

Unfortunately, there were reports of some clashes between rival sets of fans earlier in the day, but, happily, the atmosphere at the ground is wonderfully good-natured.

6:18 PM BST

Former Dortmund goalkeeper Jens Lehmann was present at the Champions League festival earlier and he is tipping his former side for the title: "I think Bayern are a little stronger but if I was to have a bet, I would bet on Dortmund because that would win me more money!"

However, our tipster Hugh Wilson reckons that the value is a punt on both sides scoring in the first half ...

Inside Goal.Com

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