There was a time when la decima was an obsession; around a decade, fittingly. But the man who earned Real Madrid their long-awaited 10th Champions League also won the 15th and they will start next season as the favourites for a 16th. Carlo Ancelotti’s trio of triumphs have sandwiched a Zinedine Zidane hat-trick and, just as they did between 1956 and 1966, Real have won six of the last 11 finals.
Which, even for a club of their size, of their wealth and with the calibre of players they have had in the last 10 years, is astonishing, It is worth remembering that, when Real’s modern-day golden age began, they had come to seem like Spain’s second force. Barcelona tended to win LaLiga. The dominant philosophy in the global game was Pep Guardiola’s. Barcelona had Lionel Messi, not merely an even greater talent than Cristiano Ronaldo but two years his junior. If anyone seemed likely to win the Champions League six times in 11 seasons, it was Barca.
