A heavenly feeling

Cristiano Ronaldo's Real Madrid created history at Cardiff's Municipality Stadium on Saturday as his two goals presented his side with a 4-1 win against Juventus in the final and enabled the Spanish giants to become the first team to retain the UEFA Champions League title.

Real Madrid's victory against the Italian giant has already been well-documented. So instead of focusing on the technical details of a pulsating final in front of the 74,500 capacity crowd, it's better for someone who is an outcast between the two rival fanbases, to savour his own historic Champions League moment.

If you are sitting in row 10 of the L9 entrance of the magnificent stadium, you are one of the lucky few who will see the manager's technical area from hand-shaking distance. You will also find yourself just behind the reserve bench and closest to the dug-out.

It was actually a mixed zone where both Real and Juventus fans shared glory and pain side by side. Entry into the stadium nearly three hours before kick-off can be mundane, but a Champions League final is the exception. The deafening roars of 'ole, ole Juve', followed by the counter roars from the opposite end give you a heavenly feeling inside that closed venue covered by a retractable roof.

It was so loud that it even drove awya the few doves, who live in the cozy comfort of those metallic arches of the roof. You are also not going to miss anything as two giant screens ensure you see your two beloved teams entering the stadium and all the way to the dug-out.

The sight of a Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, a giant Bufon, a pint-sized Marcelo, an extremely skilful Paulo Dybala or a reclined Leonardo Bonucci from very close is something that gives you an unearthly feeling.

Is it real? It was. Ronaldo was dashing down menacingly and fell after slipping the ball past Bonucci. Huge uproar for a penalty and overruled. A beefy attempt and a brilliant save by Keylor Navas in the other half. In the 20th minute Ronaldo found a bit of space and pushed the ball wide to Dani Carvajal before finding space on the edge of the box. The return ball was perfect, and the forward dipped it past the outstretched hands of Buffon.

Buffon has everything -- even a second division title for Juve -- save for a Champions League title, but he failed to protect his right-hand post four times in the match.

Seven minutes later, the audience united in one voice: "wow!" A magnificent overhead kick from Mario Mandzukic saw the scores leveled.

After the break, a wicked deflection and a horrible mispass one can ill-afford against team like Real and a predator like Ronaldo ensured the game as a contest was all but over.

A Real Madrid fan, sitting just in front of this reporter, was wearing full-sleeved shirt and on the back it read 'MR PERFECT'. It was indeed a perfect Ronaldo match. Another Real fan who was instructing the players throughout the game said with a voice of authority before the game: "We don't come to play a final. We come to win it."