Zidane's team due to arrive back in Madrid at 6am local time
Last year, Real Madrid decided not to go to Cibeles if they won the final. It will be the same if they beat Liverpool in tonight's Champions League final.
Real Madrid are due to arrive back in the Spanish capital in the early hours of Sunday morning but whatever the result in tonight's Champions League final, the players and coaching staff will go straight to their homes - even if the team is triumphant in Kiev. Traditionally, Madrid celebrate major trophy victories with the fans at the Cibeles fountain but this year, if Zidane's team are successful, they will arrive back in Spain too late for any partying.
Last year's festivities put back a few hours
Madrid celebrated being crowned European champions at Cibeles in 2014 (after the final in Lisbon) and in 2016 (Milan) but last season's victory in Cardiff wasn't celebrated on the team's return, but later on Sunday evening - first with a visit to the City Hall in Sol, then on to Cilbeles in the evening.
In previous years, for example in 1998, the team managed to get to Cibeles at around 2am but celebrations back then were on a much smaller scale. Whether the are victorious or not, generally, the players and staff are taken straight from Adolfo Suárez Madrid-Barajas airport to the Bernabéu - a journey which takes around 20 minutes. Once at the stadium, the players can get changed if they wish, then board the victory bus and head down the Castellana to Cibeles.
Any festivities will take place on Sunday evening
In 2014 the team arrived at the fountain later than expected - at 05:30 hours (the celebrations were authorized to end by 4am by the local council and the club only just escaped a fine for overstepping the deadline). In 2016, the team reached the fountain at 06:40 hours. That's why in 2017, celebrations took place the following evening. If Madrid do win tonight, the same will happen. The club has not officially announced any plan (that usually happens immediately after the game), but the normal procedure would be visits to the Town Hall and City Hall, then Cibeles folowed by a party for season ticket holders and club members at the Santiago Bernabéu. That would be the scenario for Sunday evening as most of the players are expected to be with their respective national teams on Monday.
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