The party ended for David Beckham at 7.30 on Monday morning, when the fanfare of car horns had finally fallen silent and the blood and rubber bullets had been mopped up from around the Cibeles Fountain. Amid the toasts of vintage cava, the speeches and sentimental farewells, the night before had lingered blearily, but after a few hours' snatched sleep, "El Becks" and his family were being ushered to the airport.

His departure from Real Madrid, like that of Roberto Carlos, had been much trailed and debated hotly, but the moment arrived with brutal swiftness. With no time for a scan on his swollen left ankle and his rented house already cleared, the 32-year-old left for a three-week holiday - his erstwhile team-mates flew to Israel for a friendly match in Tel Aviv - before being thrust into a new maelstrom in Hollywood.

After four barren seasons, Beckham’s wait for meaningful silverware in the bridal colours of "Los Meringues" stretched until the last ten minutes of his swansong match. He savoured it with gusto, sitting astride the front of the Real team coach as it snaked down the wide expanse of the Paseo de la Castellana from the Bernabeu to the Plaza de Cibeles, where an estimated crowd of 200,000 supporters greeted flawed heroes.

Each player sported white jerseys emblazoned with the number 30 - Real’s haul of La Liga titles - and the word "Campeones" where stellar names would usually reside. As Raul, the captain, clambered on to a crane to drape a flag around the statue of the goddess Cybele, Beckham captured the celebrations with a hand-held video camera. Perhaps he has already sold the film rights to Tom Cruise, his friend.

Shortly afterwards, as the squad returned to a vacated ground for a "champions dinner" with Ramon Calderon, the club's president, violence briefly jostled for prominence with jubilation. Madridistas hurled bottles and fireworks at police, who responded with baton charges and by drawing their pistols. The proximity between anger and glory was somehow appropriate.

As they reflected on their first trophy since 2003, Real’s protagonists spoke of ordeal and tribulation. “We suffered a lot,” Carlos, who is joining Fenerbahce, the Turkish club, after 11 years at Real, said. “Anyone who comes here needs to know that football isn’t happy, that you have to suffer and fight to the finish.”

Raul’s reaction was equally weary: “We’ve had a rough time.”

Endurance was the quality that earned Beckham and Real their gritty triumph.

Real were pitiful at the start of the campaign and the position of Fabio Capello (Beckham’s sixth coach during his four years in Spain) has seldom been settled. Bernd Schuster, the Getafe coach, said that he is “ready to coach Real Madrid next season” and only a recent penchant for dramatic comebacks has enabled Real to fend off Barcelona and Seville to win the title.

Beckham’s chequered fortunes were emblematic. “In February, I was thinking more along the lines of the Intertoto Cup,” Calderon said. Relentless politicking persuaded club officials to devise a slogan designed to encourage harmony - "Together we can!"

Raul said: “In the past four months, we recovered many things we had totally forgotten. This is a title based on unity, spirit and hard work.”

Beckham may have been the last galactico - Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo and Luis Figo had all shuffled off before him - but his work ethic suited the grim mood. Banished from the team when his five-year, $250 million (£125 million) deal with Los Angeles Galaxy was announced, he maintained his dignity even when told to train with Real’s youth players. In Madrid, he is known as a gentleman as much as for the razzmatazz.

Capello acknowledged his error, as did Calderon, who had sneered at Beckham’s future as a “B-list actor”. No mas. “Beckham is a player who has left his mark and, for sure, a lasting impression at our club,” he said at the dinner. “He was, is and will always be an exemplary athlete. It has been an honour to have him here at Madrid. He will succeed in whatever he does and enjoy his work wherever he goes.”

It is thought that Beckham earned Real £300 million through marketing and merchandising, but sporting glory was limited and late. At Area Real Madrid on Monday, the club shop on the Calle del Carmen, Beckham’s face was still advertising credit cards, but aside from a small action figure, it was as almost if he had never existed. Adios, senor. Howdy, partner.