La Saeta hosted the title celebration before the team's arrival in Madrid
Laura Navas / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell


It would've probably been even better to win and celebrate the title at the Bernabéu, but this title celebration was far from cold. One of the stops of the Madridista party was the Club's official aircraft, La Saeta, during the trip back to the Spanish capital.



Players and fans alike would've prefered to win the title at home, but winning a league is always something incredibly special and the squad dedicated it to the 300 fans that travelled to Navarra to see them take it.

Just a couple of minutes after Higuaín netted his winning goal, the entire squad took the pitch. Casillas raised his arms in the air and looked up at the skies; Pepe danced as he ran towards a corner; Marcelo jumped on his back; Cannavaro had an even bigger smile than usual; Raúl waved the Spanish flag; Higuaín kissed the crest on his shirt... They all looked up at the 300 fans at the stadium and thanked them for their support.

The celebration continued in the dressing room, where they sang and drank champagne. One hour later, they went to the airport to catch the private flight to Madrid that would take them to thousands of fans waiting in Cibeles.

The spectacular atmosphere on the bus to the airport continued on La Saeta. Hundreds of fans from Navarra said farewell to the team at the airport. Once on the aircraft, the team took several unorthodox liberties with the security measures, such as not putting their seatbelts on and so forth, but the occasion allowed it...

Ramón Calderón wore the special 31st league title shirt all the time, the same as Pedja Mijatovic, who was probably reminiscing about his own private triumphs as a Madridista a few years ago. The Club's Board Members celebrated the victory with the media with some champagne at the entrance of the aircraft, but the real show took place in the seats further back.

Raúl sang the traditional 'Viva España' chant, while the rest of the players improvised their own versions, such as 'Viva Holland' and so on. Sergio Ramos danced to a Paulina Rubio song and Casillas joked with Diarra about the lyrics of other songs while Cannavaro took a picture of them. Van Nistelrooy then suddenly started to sing in Dutch. Pepe and Marcelo started singing a victory chant and Robinho started throwing cheese puffs on his teammates' heads.

Salgado, Mezelder and Drenthe wore the commemorative shirt, the Dutchman even dressing it up with the official club suit's tie. Higuaín and Gago waved an Argentinean flag; Diarra one from Mali; Raúl the Spanish flag; Robinho and Marcelo the Brazilean one... Casillas and Codina stood out with their orange keeper shirts... Everyone started throwing Iberia blankets all over the place... Soldado and Higuaín photographed themselves to immortalise their joy...

When they arrived, 500 fans were waiting for them at the airport and even more waited at the Bernabéu, where a roofless bus was there to take them to Cibeles.

The team celebrated its 31st league title with thousands of fans
Cristina Monge / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell


Many minutes of hard work throughout the season had their pay-off the night of 4 May 2008. Real Madrid won their 31st league title in Pamplona by defeating Osasuna 2-1 in a spectacular match. The celebration began at the Reyno de Navarra Stadium and finished, as usual, in Cibeles with thousands of fans.



Bernabéu headquarters
The team's roofless bus waited for the players at the stadium in order to take them to Cibeles. Real Madrid arrived at the stadium at 2:22 am. The first to get off the bus was Iker Casillas, extremely thrilled with his fourth league title. He was followed by Gabriel Heinze, who won his first title with Real Madrid and had a bandaged hand due to an injury he sustained during the match. The squad was congratulated by the Club's equipment managers and medical staff, as well as by several journalists.

The players went to the dressing room with several champagne bottles, while Ramón Calderón and his Board met at the stadium's offices, where the team would return after the Cibeles celebration.

Raúl crowns Cibeles
Close to 200,000 people met in Cibeles on a Sunday night. The trip down the Castellana was sweet and Diarra made sure to film it all with his video-camera... Even Bernd Schuster waved a team scarf as a sign of victory while the players jumped up and down with joy.

The first to leave the bus at Cibeles was captain Raúl, who said he was extremely moved. "We played for these people, for these fans," added Ruud van Nistelrooy. The entire squad was thrilled, especially when the legendary 'We Are the Champions' was heard through the speakers. Sergio Ramos wore a shirt with a picture of his deceased friend, Sevilla player Antonio Puera, to whom he dedicated the title.

The greatest moment in the evening came when Raúl crowned Cibeles with a Real Madrid scarf and a Spanish flag, after which the squad danced the conga around the fountain.

Once again, the team thrilled us all thanks to their hard work. THANK YOU REAL MADRID.

Real Madrid celebrate their 31st league title at Reyno de Navarra Stadium
Realmadrid.com / Translation by Michael J. O'Donnell


The league title belongs to Real Madrid. As soon as the referee blew the final whistle, the players took the pitch and celebrated their victory.



Bernd Schuster
"We deserve this title. We played with ten men better than with eleven. It seems we needed adversity to be successful. It's been beautiful to win the league today. I am sure the fans are enjoying themselves. Our good work makes us just victors."

Pepe
"I am very happy with my first league title. We are anxious to arrive in Madrid and celebrate with the fans. This team has proven to be the best. We want to go to Cibeles."

Casillas
"We are very happy because most of the game was drawn 0-0, but Higuaín's last-minute goal made us burst with joy. We want to celebrate winning the title."

Gago
"It's been incredible. The match was very tough and we luckily won."

Ramos
"It's been complicated, but we fought till the very end, even when things were looking bad for us. Hope is the last thing you lose. The important thing now is to get to Cibeles and celebrate the title with our fans."

Heinze
"My heart is filled with joy. This is the most beautiful thing that can happen. Our goal was to win the league. All of us at Valdebebas deserve this title."