From Barajas airport, the first stop was the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium and then it was on to the Plaza de Cibeles. With tired eyes and legs but jubilant smiles, they journeyed through the streets of the capital just after dawn, thousands waiting for them and their bus that had "CAMPEO11ES" splashed across all sides, the "N" replaced by the number that counted.
This was the one they'd wanted. No one quite identifies with the European Cup like Real Madrid, and their capture of it for a record 11th time was made sweeter by whom they'd claimed it from and against: Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.