New Delhi: David Beckham and Roberto Carlos were given a victorious send-off from the Bernabeu when they made their final appearances for Real Madrid as the team grabbed the league title with a 3-1 comeback win over Real Mallorca.
It was meant to be a night of celebration - the climax to their best season in years. Instead, Real Madrid's last league fixture of the season started awfully.
Sunday's match at the Benabeu was less than a minute old when Real Mallorca's Juan Arango hit the post.
The home side did not heed that warning though as Mallorca did take the lead in the 17th minute through Fernando Varela. And Valera almost made it 2-0 to the visitors within ten minutes of the restart.
Real looked for an immediate response -- David Beckham got his free-kick on target but it was a comfortable save for Miguel Angel Moya.
Beckham's playing career at Real was to last but a few minutes more - he was replaced in the 66th minute by Jose Antonio Reyes.
The move proved to be a masterstroke as within two minutes of his arrival Reyes drew Madrid level and among the admirers of his moves were tennis superstar Rafael Nadal.
Real went ahead with just over ten minutes remaining through Mahamadou Diarra.
And just minutes later Reyes latched into a loose ball on the edge of the box before curling a clinical shot into the corner of the net. It was party time for the high profile Real supporters with the club's first major title in four years in the bag.
A glorious day for the club - and a fine swansong for the departing superstars - David Beckham and Roberto Carlos.
Comments
0 comment