LISBON — Real Madrid came back from the dead to write another glorious chapter in its history when it beat Atletico Madrid 4-1 in extra time, helped by goals from Gareth Bale, Marcelo and Cristiano Ronaldo to win a 10th European Cup Saturday. With Atletico poised to win the trophy for the first time after going ahead with a first-half Diego Godin header, Real struck back after relentless pressure with a Sergio Ramos header in the third minute of added time from a Luka Modric corner. That sent the final into extra time and with a tiring Atletico almost out for the count after taking a battering for most of the second half, Real scored three times in the last 10 minutes. World record signing Bale headed it in front after 110 minutes, Marcelo made it 3-1 following a solo run eight minutes later before Ronaldo, the Portugal captain playing in his capital city, converted a penalty with almost the last kick. The goal was Ronaldo's 17th of the Champions League campaign, a record for one season, and he became the first player in the competition's 59-year history to score for two different winning sides in open play in the final, having scored for Manchester United when it won the 2008 European Cup. After fulfilling his 12-year obsession of winning the Champions League, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez is already focused on winning the next one. Madrid's obsession with winning “La Decima,” or 10th in Spanish, ended at the Stadium of Light. But a new one appears to have been born as Perez said, “I feel very proud of everything I have achieved as president of this club. Now, it's time to start thinking about winning our 11th and 12th trophies. Today was completely liberating.” Madrid also won the Copa del Rey this season to complete a double. The victory also meant Carlo Ancelotti became only the second coach to win the European Cup three times after Bob Paisley's Liverpool triumphs in 1977, 1978 and 1981. Italian Ancelotti also won the trophy twice as a player with AC Milan in 1989 and 1990, while Real became the first team to score four goals in the final since Milan's 4-0 win over Barcelona in 1994. “Yes that was just incredible, what can I say, it was our aim from the start of the season,” Ancelotti told reporters. “It was such a hard game and Atletico were such powerful opponents, but I think we deserved it in the end. “We scored in extra time. We believed that we could win the game and it went well for us in the end. Everyone did well and what they could and we finished drained, exhausted but very, very happy. Were we lucky to score so late? I don't think so, I think we deserved it.” In contrast Atletico coach Diego Simeone was ordered off the field by referee Bjorn Kuipers for running on to the pitch after Atletico went 4-1 down, but he was much calmer when he faced the media later, walking in to applause at the news conference. The Argentine said he was angry because Real defender Raphael Varane flicked the ball at him but added that he should not have acted as he did. “At that point it was pointless for the player to create that situation,” he said. “After a 4-1 scoreline maybe it was pointless for me to get angry. But if you analyze the whole match Real Madrid were better in the second half, they pinned us in our own half and we could not move.” For Atletico the evening evoked painful memories of the last time it reached the final in 1974 when it was leading Bayern Munich in Brussels only for Georg Schwarzenbeck to equalize in the last minute of extra time to force a 1-1 draw and a replay which Bayern won 4-0 two days later. This time Atletico was almost as close to glory and a Champions League and domestic league double but instead Real secured a Champions League and Spanish Cup double as Ancelotti's first season in charge ended in absolute joy for its fans at the Stadium of Light and utter dejection for Atletico's. A header from Bale 20 minutes into extra time turned the match a month after the Welshman scored the winner with a stunning solo goal in a 2-1 King's Cup triumph over Barcelona. His latest goal repaid a further chunk of the 100 million euros ($136.31 million) Real paid Tottenham Hotspur to secure his signature last August and all but killed off any hope the flagging Atletico players had of winning the match. Marcelo made it 3-1 with a shot from outside the box that goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois probably should have saved before Ronaldo converted the penalty after being fouled by Gabi. Following its triumphs of 1998, 2000 and 2002, Real became the first team to lift the trophy four times since the Champions League was reformatted in 1992. It was a hard-won victory for Real but in the end it deserved it. A sea of cheering Real Madrid fans swamped the streets of Spain's capital in a joyous victory party early Sunday. Tens of thousands of supporters roared with delight as Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the winning squad arrived at the central Cibeles Square, the traditional home for raucous Real Madrid victory celebrations, in an open-topped white bus just before 6 a.m. (0400 GMT). “In 2002 I was there to celebrate Real's ninth Champions League win. So I could not miss this one,” said Jorge Rodriguez, a 30-year-old nurse who was wrapped in a Real Madrid flag. Many fans had danced to thumping rock music and chanted in the square for hours as they waited for their heros to return from Lisbon for a victorious welcome in the early hours of Sunday morning. Delirious Real supporters who had been following the Lisbon match on giant screens or television flooded onto Madrid's streets, set off firecrackers, beeped car horns and surged into the city centre to celebrate the end of their 12-year wait for the “Decima.” Fans who had packed into Real Madrid's 81,000-capacity Bernabeu Stadium cheered as they watched the win in a live relay. — Agencies
