This is the 18th time of the season the Bernabeu stadium stadium is sold out, finally bursting out in celebration at the 29th Liga title the Whites have achieved. The players enjoyed the ovation of the crowd, none happier than hero of the night, Ronaldo, who claimed the first domestic title of his career.


Awesome Attack Decisive In Title Win
When Real Madrid added World Cup top scorer Ronaldo to their glittering squad at the start of the season, victory in the Spanish championship was thought to be a foregone conclusion. What no one predicted was that the nine-times European champions would be taken the distance by former relegation strugglers Real Sociedad and would have to endure a nail-biting season finale before clinching their 29th league title.

Sociedad's flying start to the league under new coach Raynald Denoueix, Ronaldo's early fitness problems and a tougher than expected Champions League campaign all took their toll on Real in the early part of the season. A surprise 2-0 defeat at Racing Santander and a 1-1 draw at home to Villarreal saw them drop to fifth in the league, a full seven points behind unbeaten Sociedad, by early November.

They were then lucky to sneak a last-gasp win at lowly neighbours Rayo Vallecano but the notoriously hard-to-please Bernabeu faithful began to voice their discontent when Ronaldo hit a minor mid-season scoring drought.

With Roberto Carlos's rampaging runs on the left frequently leaving Real exposed at the back, and central defender Fernando Hierro getting caught out by speedy opposition strikers, Vicente del Bosque's team were conceding an alarming number of goals. They frequently found themselves in the position of having to turn a game around in the second half after falling behind to fast-starting opponents.

But Real's saving grace was their awesome power going forward.


Surging Attacks
Once Real set their minds to the task few teams could withstand the pressure of their relentless surging attacks. Zinedine Zidane teased open opposition defences with his meandering infield runs and artful passes, Luis Figo supplied a string of magnificent crosses, while Raul and Ronaldo were nearly always on hand to provide the finishing touch. Between them the two Madrid front men scored 39 goals this season, a total exceeded only by Real Sociedad's lethal strike pairing of Darko Kovacevic and Nihat Kahveci.

A 5-1 thrashing of Real Mallorca in Palma and an even better 4-1 win over Valencia at the Bernabeu Stadium in the New Year allowed Real to keep the pressure on Sociedad at the top. Sociedad slipped to their first defeat of the season against Basque rivals Athletic Bilbao in early February and a shock 3-0 loss at mid-table Valladolid four weeks later.

That opened the door for Real Madrid to go top in early March after Ronaldo helped himself to a hat-trick as they hit five past a sorry-looking Alaves. A confident and assured 2-0 victory over Deportivo Coruna at the Bernabeu gave Real a six-point lead by early April and the title race looked all but over.


Totally Outclassed
However, just as Real were being showered with compliments following their scintillating 3-1 Champions League victory at home to Manchester United, they were totally outclassed when Sociedad handed them a 4-2 defeat at Anoeta. A 5-1 drubbing by a Samuel Eto'o-inspired Mallorca at the Bernabeu followed soon after and they went on to lose top spot after more than two months at the head of the table, handing the initiative back to Sociedad.

But as luck would have it their 4-0 win at neighbours Atletico and Sociedad's narrow 3-2 defeat at Champions League-bound Celta Vigo in the penultimate game produced a final reversal in fortunes. In an almost exact repetition of the 1979-80 season Real snatched the lead from Sociedad and went into the final match needing a victory over Athletic Bilbao to clinch the title.

'I think we deserve it more than anyone,' Real coach Vicente del Bosque said on the eve of the title decider. 'The numbers are there for all to see.' Despite the distractions of the David Beckham signing and the question marks over Del Bosque's future, history duly repeated itself and once more Real were able to deny Sociedad the title with their 3-1 victory over Bilbao.

That result took their scoring tally for the season to 86 league goals - 15 more than the next highest scorers Real Sociedad - and turned the season into a triumph for the club's fearless attacking style. It was a less emphatic title victory than many had predicted, but no one could argue that Real were undoubtedly the outstanding team in Spain this season, utterly fearless in attack and undeniably worthy of their 29th success.


Ronaldo On Song When It Matters
Ronaldo once again demonstrated that he is the best in the world when it comes to the big occasion as he almost single-handedly guided Real Madrid to their 29th league title on a night of high drama in Spain. With Real needing to beat Athletic Bilbao to win the championship, Ronaldo obliged with another match-winning display when it really counted. The Brazilian, sporting the same bizarre hairstyle he wore at the World Cup, put his side ahead with a close-range strike after nine minutes and, after Bilbao had equalised, won the free kick that led to their second.

When news began to filter through that second-placed Real Sociedad were winning at home to Atletico Madrid and closing in, nerves were starting to fray at the Bernabeu but a brilliant second goal from Ronaldo settled matters. Timing his run to perfection, Ronaldo latched on to a pass from Zinedine Zidane and belted the ball past Bilbao keeper Aranzubia to score his 23rd league goal of the season.

It was a first domestic league title for Ronaldo, who scored 34 league goals for Barcelona in the 1996-97 season but had to settle for the runners-up spot behind Real in the league.

'We're talking about the best player in the world,' said Real coach Vicente del Bosque. 'He has proved that and has helped us become the best team.'

A tally of 23 league goals looked a distant target when he arrived from Inter Milan in a $44.2 million transfer. His eight goals in South Korea and Japan, including two in the final, had made him the competition's top scorer and proved that he was back to something like his best after career-threatening injury problems. Real's move for the Brazilian striker was still a huge gamble, though, with many questioning whether he could reproduce his World Cup form on a regular basis. When he arrived at the Bernabeu, he was patently unfit and he did not make his debut until the fifth league match of the season against Alaves. With the eyes of the world on him, and many people waiting for him to fail, Ronaldo did what he does best, scoring two brilliant goals, one of them within a minute of coming on, to lead Real to a 5-2 win. He has continued scoring vital goals for Real Madrid ever since, always saving his best for the biggest matches. He returned to Yokohama, the scene of his World Cup triumph with Brazil, to win his first title with Real in December, scoring the opening goal in the side's 2-0 win over Olimpia of Paraguay in the World Club Cup.

Later in December he won the European Player of the Year award for the second time and the FIFA World Player of the Year award for the third time as he finished the year on a high note. Ronaldo proved Real's saviour in the second phase of the Champions League, heading the only goal in a 1-0 win away to Lokomotiv Moscow that took his team through to the knock-out phase.


Standing Ovation
In the quarter-finals, his hat-trick in the second leg away to Manchester United clinched a 6-5 aggregate win for Real and earned him a standing ovation from the Old Trafford crowd. Ronaldo scored in Real's 2-1 win over Juventus in the semi-final first leg but injury limited him to a substitute's role in the return and Juventus denied the Spaniards a place in the final. That left the domestic league as Real's only hope of claiming a major trophy and Ronaldo's inspirational run of form at the end of the season led them to victory. He scored twice in a crucial 2-1 win away to Valencia, twice again away to Atletico Madrid last week and added another double to clinch the title against Bilbao.

'I'm so happy,' Ronaldo told Real Madrid's website after the Bilbao win. 'It's all worked out perfectly.

'When I was at Barcelona I was more spectacular but now I'm more effective. I'm getting better all the time.'