Real Madrid finally celebrated this Sunday with its fans in La Cibeles the League that it had won the previous Sunday, when the configuration of the calendar prevented it from receiving the trophy. It was a delayed celebration that also took place with an eye on the Champions League final at Wembley against Borussia Dortmund. “I’m sure we’ll see each other here again in three weeks,” Kroos promised. And also Camavinga: “I think that on June 1 we are going to win another title and we will come here again to enjoy.”
It was impossible to stop looking at London, but Nacho insisted several times on “enjoying the moment.” For him, who joined the club when he was 11 years old and is celebrating his first season as captain, the day contained even more special ingredients: “My hair stands on end,” he said at the beginning of the day, still in Valdebebas, after The president of the Royal Spanish Football Federation, Pedro Rocha, will present them with the trophy in quite unusual circumstances. He did it behind closed doors, on the grass of a training field, after the calendar mismatch that prevented Madrid from receiving the cup in a stadium. Rocha greeted the coaching staff and the footballers, took a photo with them and disappeared, while the expedition led by Nacho began its journey towards the center of Madrid. “I have gone to La Cibeles many times, luckily. But today it’s my turn as first captain to put the scarf on him… I’ve been dreaming all year about this moment coming,” the captain explained before leaving Valdebebas.
Almost four hours later, after passing by the headquarters of the presidency of the Community of Madrid and the City Council, Nacho took advantage of that unique moment for someone who has spent more than two thirds of his life at Real. He climbed onto the top of the 15-step staircase and delicately tied a scarf around the crown of the goddess Cybele. Afterwards, he placed a flag on her and then came a moment that could even be considered tender: he hugged her and placed a long kiss on her left cheek, while a few meters below, filling the square, several thousand fans roared. He then raised the glass over the statue, under the rain of confetti and before lowering it he stopped to kiss Cybele’s left cheek again. “You have to enjoy the moment, it’s the most important thing,” he had said at one of the stops on the tour.
Fernando Villar (EFE)
Before arriving at La Cibeles, Madrid made a first stop at Puerta del Sol, at the Real Casa de Correos, where they were greeted by the president of the Community, Isabel Díaz Ayuso, who was wearing a sports jacket with the Madrid crest (more Later he put on a Madrid shirt with his name, Díaz Ayuso, and a number 1 on the back), who was also already looking at Wembley: “We feel an emotion that will not stop multiplying until June 1,” he said in his speech in which he mixed praise for Madrid with his usual defense of his political model of “freedom” for the region. In his speech, the club president, Florentino Pérez, referred to one of the circumstances that have most marked the character of this title: “It is very difficult to overcome the adversities that this team has suffered this season. This group has had the strength to rise in the face of serious injuries to Courtois, Militão and Alaba. He has been able to turn around a situation that seemed irreversible. The suffering of injured colleagues has been a reason for improvement and pride.” During the tour, Tchouameni was seen at various times with a crutch, a doubt for the Wembley final.
At the next station, at City Hall, the mayor, José Luis Martínez Almeida, also referred to “a staff that has not had it easy at all.” And he looked ahead: “For me, in three weeks they may come back, we may receive them here,” he said. The same faith that he had exhibited a little earlier Jude Bellingham in Spanish: “One more great game at Wembley. We will win”.
When they finished at City Hall, they took off their shirts, ties and suit jackets, put on the celebratory t-shirts and got on the second floor of the open-top bus to make a detour through the streets of the center and return almost to the same point, to the Plaza de La Cibeles. On the roof of the coach, Carlo Ancelotti repeated his famous photograph with the sunglasses and the cigar that he had promised the day before in Granada: “We had to repeat it, and hopefully we can repeat it in a few days,” he said after posing with Vinicius , Rodrygo and Militão (as in the image from two years ago), and with Camavinga and Alaba (who joined).
The most fun part of the party had begun. They danced, they sang on the catwalk that surrounded La Cibeles, they celebrated the rise of Nacho, who Vinicius and the crowd asked to stay at the club for another year, and they said goodbye until not long. “I hope we see each other after June 1,” Modric wished.
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