MADRID, Spain (LifeSiteNews) – European soccer giant Real Madrid C.F. took home the continent’s coveted UEFA Champion’s League trophy Tuesday, offering the prestigious prize, along with the team’s earlier Spanish league victory, to the Virgin of Almudena in Madrid.
After successfully fending off Liverpool F.C. in a tightly fought final in Paris’ Stade de France on May 28, pipping their opponents 1–0, Real Madrid secured the title for the fourteenth time in its history, double that of the second most successful European team, AC Milan.
Returning home on May 29, the victors were greeted by thousands of jubilant fans in the Spanish capital, where that same evening the team brought both their Champions League and national LaLiga trophies to Almudena Cathedral, the archdiocesan seat in Madrid, offering them to the Blessed Virgin Mary.
After winning the Champions League trophy, the first thing Real Madrid players did was to visit Almudena cathedral in Madrid to offer their trophy to Mother Mary. pic.twitter.com/NlnbdZoT3K
— Sachin Jose (@Sachinettiyil) May 30, 2022
The team was met by Cardinal Carlos Osoro Sierra, Archbishop of Madrid, who blessed the team as they prayed for the “maternal protection of the Virgin Mary.” Welcoming the players with “affection and joy,” Sierra thanked the team for being ambassadors of the city in like manner with St. Isidore the Farmer, whom he said was “a simple man with presences on all continents.”
🏆 🏆 Así fue la foto de familia en la Catedral de la Almudena.#RealMadrid | #CHAMP14NS | #CAMPEON35 pic.twitter.com/p89OCRV0us
— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) May 29, 2022
“It is stimulating to share a path with others, to support each other in the search for success,” the cardinal said.
The club has a long-standing relationship with Catholicism, with past team members also having offered previous wins to Our Lady. Indeed, the Real Madrid crest features the symbol of the Spanish Catholic monarchy, complete with cross.
Some of the current team are Catholics, including Croatian midfielder Luka Modric.
In 2014, then team captain Sergio Ramos, also a Catholic, described Real Madrid as “God’s team and the team of the world.”