A Hollywood ending for David Beckham and a fairytale at Real Madrid, a club he leaves with the belated valediction of a meaningful trophy. With Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes perched beside Victoria, his wife, beneath the rafters of the Bernabéu, the former England captain’s new life mingled with the old, even if last night’s frantic denouement was marred by Beckham’s presence on the margins.

Real’s 30th league title was also their first since 2003, the year Beckham joined from Manchester United in anticipation of a glut of cups and championships. A story that concludes with a $250 million (about £126.5 million) contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy could hardly be termed a disaster, but it was not until the final page of the last chapter that sporting disappointment was averted.

It was an exile from the Barclays Premiership who settled Real’s remarkable, if flawed tussle with Barcelona, but not the one we expected. José Antonio Reyes, on loan from Arsenal, left the substitutes’ bench in the second half, replacing Beckham. With his side trailing Mallorca 1-0 at the time, the Spain forward scored twice, with another from Mahamadou Diarra sandwiched in between, as Real won 3-1.

It ensured that Beckham was able to savour the sound of “Campeones, campeones” ringing in his ears, the sight of silver ticker-tape cascading on to the pitch. Cavorting was made difficult by the heavy strapping on his left foot, but he would leave the ground, along with his colleagues, for a traditional party at the nearby Cibeles Fountain. He returned to kiss the centre circle. The great drought was over.

His signing symbolised the excesses of a previous era — full marks for style, fewer for substance — and disappointment followed, but Beckham’s fortitude, team ethic and humility has won over sceptical Madridistas. “David, the Bernabéu will always be your home,” a banner emblazoned with the Union Jack read; having brought in £300 million in marketing revenue, he has certainly accounted for much of the furniture.

Yet it is a rare breed of supporter who toasts the memory of pounds, euros or dollars and while the commercial aspect of Beckham’s transfer from United four years ago has been a 24-carat success, silverware has been superseded by trinkets.

With only his swansong at Real still ahead of him, the Spanish equivalent of the Community Shield made for an empty boast. Was the disc jockey’s tongue lodged anywhere near his cheek when the strains of Money for Nothing blared from the loudspeaker as Fabio Capello’s squad cantered on to the pitch for their warm-up session? Knowing or not, the choice of Dire Straits was appropriate given that Beckham had already described this season as the most traumatic of a gilded career, and that was before a calamitous first half.

The pre-match routine was the same — a fraternal kiss for Iker Casillas, the goalkeeper, and a hug for Roberto Carlos, Beckham’s close friend, who was bidding his own farewells before decamping to Fenerbahçe — but normality was otherwise suspended.

The atmosphere was as piercing as the context required, but Real responded like errant children cautioned about monsters living beneath their beds.

Witless defending has been as much a hallmark of their recent existence as financial extravagance and bitter politicking, but this was more reminiscent of downright fear. A single minute had not elapsed when Juan Arango was slaloming around two statue-like centre halves — who, in mitigation, had been offered minimal protection by their midfield players — and thudding a shot against the left-hand post.

Real did not ignore the warning, they simply appeared too leaden-footed to cope with it and repetition did not assist the learning process. Arango was again the assailant for Mallorca’s goal, driving the ball forward for Fernando Varela to score with brutal simplicity, an intervention that sucked noise from the ground. The script had not read like this.

Devoid of imagination and lacking intent — a free kick by Beckham and a scuffed opportunity for Raúl were lonely threats — Real did not require the renewal of acquaintances with misfortune. It followed regardless, Ruud van Nistelrooy, predator supreme and the team’s most vital player, traipsed from the field in agony clutching his hamstring. With it went his hopes of snaring the European Golden Boot.

Barcelona’s dissection of relegated Gimnastic was merely another kick in the Goldenballs. Beckham’s comeback from the exile imposed upon him by Capello — whose future as coach remains deeply insecure — has been mirrored by the tenacity of his team-mates, but they would no longer be relying upon the frailties of others, as they had in grasping a 2-2 draw at Real Zaragoza the previous weekend.

Beckham could not have done much more. Playing in spite of the left ankle injury which had prevented him from training fully until Saturday and without the aid of a painkilling injection (Capello did not wish to encourage a loss of sensation in those famous feet), the midfield player fizzed the ball onto the roof of the net and later made contact with the woodwork.

Yet without the looming figure of Van Nistelrooy to aim for — the Dutchman had mustered more than a third of Real’s league goals — there was an impotence to his trademark crosses and his evening closed in the 66th minute with a standing ovation and a marked limp.

Reyes, his replacement, equalised immediately, which seemed to say much about Beckham’s chequered time at Madrid; right club, right player, questionable timing.

Yet with two more goals peppering the last ten minutes and confounding the dross which preceded it, glory was to follow.

At the very moment of his departure and without his active participation, Real were finally able to end it like Beckham.

Final flourish

Memorable league titles won on the final day

— In 1989 Arsenal secured a 2-0 win away to Liverpool with a stoppage-time goal by Michael Thomas.

— In 1999 Bordeaux needed to defeat Paris St-Germain and did so 3-2 via an 89th-minute goal by Pascal Feindouno, an 18-year-old.

— Two years later, an equaliser by Patrik Andersson in added time for Bayern Munich against SV Hamburg earned his club the German title.