The final whistle went, but Real Madrid still had to wait. Players hugged each other and sang some of the club’s most famous anthems in front of a packed south stand. Their 3-0 win against visitors Cadiz on Saturday afternoon meant the job was pretty much done — just not quite.
In truth, it has really only been a matter of time since beating Barcelona 3-2 here in El Clasico two weeks ago. Everyone has known, since Jude Bellingham’s stoppage-time winner put them 11 points clear, that the title would be coming back to the Santiago Bernabeu.
The official message coming out of the club has been one of calm and continuity. That all thoughts are focused on completing the task at hand — referring more to Wednesday night and the home second leg of their Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.
But still, yesterday was not just any spring afternoon in the Spanish capital.
You could see it as soon as Brahim Diaz’s sublime opener lit up the match shortly after half-time. Normally, coach Carlo Ancelotti’s reaction to a Madrid goal is soft and reserved, while his assistant and son Davide tends to celebrate rather more effusively. On this occasion, they were both off their feet and punching the air.
There were more moments like that.
Bellingham, rested from the starting line-up, came on and got the 18th La Liga goal of his Madrid debut season — he is two behind Girona’s Artem Dovbyk in the race for top scorer. In stoppage time, Nacho raced forward and broke through the defence before setting up Joselu for an easy tap-in. It was ‘la guinda’ — the cherry on top.
Madrid winning meant Barca had to beat high-flying neighbours Girona later in the day to keep their La Liga crown for another week. And there was a feeling that they might slip up.
Even before the final whistle, you could hear chants of “Campeones!” (Champions), and it was a joyful scene as players and fans united in celebration — but soon after, it was back to business. Ancelotti was the only one to speak to the media. No player came to talk in the mixed zone, something that usually happens only with the most painful of defeats.
With that Bayern second leg four days away, the idea was to stop the party there, though few really wanted to go home just yet. Players and coaching staff stayed behind at the Bernabeu, some joined by family members and friends, to take in the other key game of the day — at Girona’s 13,500-capacity Montilivi stadium.
While they were scattered between the dressing room, the Bernabeu’s private boxes and the pitch, Madrid supporters gathered in expectation outside the ground and at the famous Cibeles fountain in the city centre — where the club’s titles are traditionally celebrated.
Barcelona twice went ahead, but even when they were 2-1 up and dominating, the crowds 700km (almost 450 miles) away in the capital did not disperse. Girona came back, sealing their own Champions League place with another impressive performance. When the final whistle blew, it finally was official. Girona had won 4-2. Madrid were Spanish champions for a record-extending 36th time.
💜🔊 #MADRIDISTAS x @REALMADRID 🔊💜 pic.twitter.com/u026O6ERRb
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) May 4, 2024
There were no more than 2,000 people at Cibeles at the time, according to police sources, so they decided to not close the roads. Previous years have seen many more gather — but Madrid had already said they would not be holding a parade there on Saturday night.
“I want to send a message of calm. This is going to be celebrated in a week, as it deserves,” skipper Nacho told Madrid’s in-house media — the first reaction to the title win. “We are already thinking about Wednesday’s game against Bayern.”
This was Nacho in captain mode after equalling, along with Luka Modric, the 25 titles won with the club across all competitions by their former team-mates Karim Benzema and Marcelo. No player has more in Madrid’s history.
The Athletic texted to a club source: “You’ll have to open some beers!”
“Noooooo. There’s training tomorrow,” was the reply. That was scheduled for 11am today (Sunday) at their base in the city’s northern Valdebebas district.
Madrid fans gather in the city centre on Saturday night (Diego Radames/Europa Press via Getty Images)
Back at the Bernabeu, scenes of celebration were shared on social media.
One clip showed a tight-knit group of players dancing together, before making space for Ancelotti and other members of the coaching staff to join the circle, as well as the physios. There were special moments there, such as the chanting of Thibaut Courtois’ name — the Belgian had played for the first time all season following his two knee injuries. And there was at least a toast or two, with cava or Champagne.
But at 8.50pm, about half an hour after the final whistle in Girona, players began to leave.
Toni Kroos, who has a reputation for being something of a homebody, went first. Bellingham was last out, sitting in the front passenger seat of a car with the window down as his mother drove. He was clearly in a mood to celebrate — he almost took the microphone of a radio journalist who was trying to grab a word.
By that time, a news item on the club’s website carried Ancelotti’s first words: “It was a deserved Liga.”
There was a similar atmosphere around the celebrations after Madrid’s previous league title success two years ago, when they also had a home Champions League semi-final second leg, against Manchester City coming just a few days later.
Who knows what might have happened if they had let their hair down a little more. Would we have seen the spectacular comeback they mounted on that magical night en route to the club’s 14th European Cup/Champions League crown?
Madrid’s restrained reaction on Saturday does not mean this latest league title isn’t valued. But recent experience has told them it is better to wait.
(Top photo: Burak Akbulut/Anadolu via Getty Images)
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