Atletico Madrid came within a whisker of becoming the 23rd club to be champions of Europe, but coach Diego Simeone was typically bullish after the agonising 5-3 penalty shoot-out defeat - their second final loss in three years to city rivals Real Madrid.
“I think the team that wins is always the best team,” Simeone told his post-match press conference.”And Real Madrid was better because they won.”
He was matter-of-fact about losing in the penalty shoot-out: “We had the chance but didn’t manage to become champions. We have to continue working, and that’s what we’ll start doing now.”
In truth, the final was not a classic in terms of quality, but the narrative proved to be gripping nonetheless.
Atletico, the organised, disciplined, defensive machine, simply did not turn up early on and had to fight back having trailed to Sergio Ramos’ opener.
“We started badly, but then we had something more from the 25th [minute],” Simeone said.
Atletico had something more only because what they had offered previously was nothing.
But in the second half a spark fired almost immediately.
A penalty was won within seconds of the restart, missed by Antoine Griezmann, and a string of chances went begging before substitute Yannick Carrasco levelled late on – and became an Internet sensation by kissing his girlfriend in the stands as he celebrated.
More serious matters resumed almost instantly as Fernando Torres nearly won the tie in 90 minutes, but with no more goals in extra-time, it came down to penalties.
Juanfran’s miss, while Real converted all of their kicks, proved decisive, and Atletico became the only team to have lost three finals without having lifted the coveted trophy.
The first defeat, back in 1974 to Bayern Munich, was painful, but the 4-1 extra-time collapse to Real in 2014 in Lisbon seemed the hardest blow possible - at least until now.
But Simeone was not about to beg for sympathy. “I feel proud of my players, they’ve made an enormous effort in a very difficult final for us,” he said.
“We had to beat Barcelona, Bayern Munich [to get here], to be losing 1-0, to miss a penalty... quite frankly I love my players. It’s clear they’ve given everything they have. They always give everything. I have a group of players that are very strong.
“I said on the field ‘don’t cry’ because they’ve made a tremendous effort. Football is destiny, and today destiny was not on our side.”
Simeone has led a remarkable turnaround at Atletico since taking over in late 2011 with the side fighting relegation.
In addition to two Champions League finals, which even in losing he said was “a marvellous achievement,” he has won the Europa League in 2012 and the 2014 Spanish title.
Naturally there is speculation about his future, but it was not something he was willing to consider.
And there was no time for comparisons of the pain inflicted in the final defeats, despite the journalists’ prompting.
“I don’t know which one hurts the most,” he said.”What hurts me is seeing people who paid their ticket to travel and so on, and I feel a bit responsible for this. I wasn’t able to give them what they wanted.”