IT is the battle of the superstar Galacticos. Gareth Bale takes on Cristiano Ronaldo in Lyon tonight, with the other 20 players on the field seemingly relegated to jacket-holding responsibilities.
Gordon Strachan has been lampooned in places for lamenting our lack of a world class footballer but the success of both Wales and Portugal would suggest you can get pretty far with one supreme talent and a supporting cast of experienced, hard-working professionals without any glaring weaknesses. All we have to do is find one and give him the ball as much as possible. Maybe a few centre halves would help too.
Andy Murray said on Monday at the All England Club that he had never met Gareth Bale but the blueprint for what the Welshman is attempting to inspire in France in the next few days was effectively set in Ghent last November, when Scotland's best-ever sportsman won the last of a perfect 11 rubbers as Great Britain won the Davis Cup for the first time in 79 years.
As the No 1 doubles player on the planet, Jamie Murray is clearly world class in his chosen profession, while Dan Evans, James Ward, Kyle Edmund and Dom Inglot all made their contributions too, but when push comes to shove we would be 80 years and counting right now had the younger Murray sibling not decided there was something bigger than individual glory out there that he wanted to be part of.
As the World No 2 stubbornly puts his name forward for the first draft of Leon Smith's team for the 2016 quarter final tie against Serbia in Belgrade - a match in a crowded Olympic calendar which Novak Djokovic notably opted out of after his shock exit to Sam Querrey at SW19 - it seemed as good a time as any to consider this supposed tension between the individual sporting superstar and his supporting cast. How can the team still be the star if Ronaldo or Bale are around?
Watching how these two Real Madrid players interact with each other and their blue collar support cast promises to be one of the treats of the Euros. Ronaldo, or maybe we should call him CR7, gave an insight into his outlook in his recent filmic vanity project 'Ronaldo'.
“I’m not going to lie to you,” he said, on the topic of why he went to the World Cup whilst suffering from an injury. “If we had two or three Cristiano Ronaldos in the team I would feel more comfortable. But we don’t.”
No, Cristiano, you don't. So the onus is on you to make the best of what you have got around you, which in the form of players such as Renato Sanches and Ricardo Quaresma is more technical ability than Wales are blessed with.
Think how often you see the Portuguese legend gesticulating in disgust when some pass or other doesn't come in his direction, and how rarely you see these actions replicated by Bale, or even Murray for that matter. 
While the Scot has been known to act up towards umpires and lash out at his own players' box from time to time, when it comes to cajoling and coaching other British players, he is generous to a fault with his time and expertise.
Ronaldo's commitment cannot be questioned - Sir Alex Ferguson called him the best professional he has ever worked with - but a bit of humility would go a long way. Indeed at times, it seems his cause could be at variance with that of his team-mates. While he has the highest attempt count, 39, of anyone in the tournament, only 10 of them have been on target. Bale has forced the goalkeeper into action 13 times from his 20 efforts.
Everyone on this planet is wired differently but what has been abundantly clear this summer is how much Bale, and Murray, seem to enjoy taking a break from their ivory towers to take on a leadership role and pull weaker players up by the bootstraps. While Ronaldo runs towards the cameras when he scores, these days Bale runs towards his team-mates.
Wales have consistently produced world class footballers over the last quarter of a century and still not made the grade. John Toshack, Neville Southall, Kevin Ratcliffe, Ian Rush, Mark Hughes and Ryan Giggs would all have decent claims to be included in World XIs.
The rest of this Wales team are better than often made out but Bale's most remarkable achievement may reside in also being one of the Boyos. He hasn't always excelled in this tournament but the attention he has drawn has allowed others, such as Aaron Ramsey and Hal Robson-Kanu to thrive.
There are other precedents out there. Think Tiger Woods struggling to adapt to team play at the Ryder Cup, while the big European hitters left the egos at the door. Diego Maradona sacrificing himself amid tight man-marking in the 1986 World Cup final and allowing Jorge Valdano and Jorge Burruchaga to grabthe limelight.
How about Chris Froome on the Champs Elysees, linking arms with the Team Sky domestiques who had protected him on the Tour de France climbs. It would be satisfying indeed if Bale's collegiate approach allowed another member of sport's second tier talents to acquire superstar status in Lyon tonight.
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