RealSociedad

Zinedine Zidane finds his ultimate fulfilment after Real Madrid's title | Sid Lowe

17-Jul-2020 10:01:21 | The Guardian

The longest season had ended with Madrid’s third league in 12 years, just as the coach had hoped it would

Just before 11pm on Thursday night, two months after the title race was supposed to finish and a few seconds after it actually had, two men working for the local council climbed up the statue of the goddess Cibeles, tied a Real Madrid scarf around her neck, draped a flag over her shoulders and climbed back down. Wearing hi-vis shirts, wellies and waders, they were the only ones who got close. Cars passed by beeping but on the street there were more police than people. Usually the scene of celebration, thousands gathering, this time fans had been asked to stay away and the men who had won the league weren’t coming either.

They were 15km north-east. “We would have liked be there at Cibeles with the fans, but there will be time for that and they’ll be happy watching at home,” Zinedine Zidane said. Around him, the floor was soon covered in confetti and his players wore commemorative T-shirts. We Are The Champions boomed around and a celebratory banquet was prepared, burger and chips the dinner of champions. But this was their training ground, not the Santiago Bernabéu, and when Sergio Ramos lifted the trophy only a couple of hundred people were there to see it: staff, ballboys, six reporters and Villarreal standing politely to applaud. It was, the manager said: “Strange for everyone.” It had been that kind of season.

Related: Real Madrid seal La Liga title as Karim Benzema double defeats Villarreal

"I've always said the same; winning #LaLigaSantander is most important for us. It's the most difficult to win." — Zidane pic.twitter.com/lXe7hTmjgF

Athletic 0-2 Leganes, Barcelona 1-2 Osasuna, Celta Vigo 2-3 Levante, Getafe 0-2 Atlético, Mallorca 1-2 Granada, Real Betis 1-2 Alaves, Real Madrid 2-1 Villarreal, Real Sociedad 0-0 Sevilla, Valencia 1-0 Espanyol, Eibar 3-1 Valladolid