KIEV, Ukraine — In time, the details will fade. Real Madrid will not remember, not precisely, how it moved from mere greatness to genuine legend. The specifics of how it etched its name in history and took its place alongside the very best club teams soccer has produced will not matter.
All that will count is that — like the Ajax Amsterdam of Johan Cruyff, the Bayern Munich of Franz Beckenbauer and the primus inter pares, the Real Madrid of Alfredo Di Stéfano — this Real Madrid vintage has done what only those select few have ever managed, and won the European Cup for three years in a row.