There is something very powerful about that scene in Ronaldo, the 2015 biopic of Cristiano, when Real Madrid win la Decima, their tenth European Cup, and we see the difference in mentality between one player at the absolute top of his sport and another who will always be a couple of rungs down.



It goes back to a sweet-scented night in Lisbon and the moments, with the Champions League final approaching the 90-minute mark, when Ronaldo displays a quality that is essential in understanding what separates being a great footballer — of which there are many — and a football great, which is a more exclusive group.



All around him, his colleagues are beginning to wilt, trailing 1-0 against an Atletico Madrid side that have put on a masterclass in the art of defence. “I look, for example, at (Angel) Di Maria and I see him face down,” Ronaldo says, sounding as though he simply cannot comprehend this lack of competitive courage. “He thinks...