MADRID (AFP) - The front page of the Spanish sports daily Marca said it all on Monday, above a picture of the Real Madrid squad celebrating their Spanish title win.

"I've won the league of the comebacks," ran the headline of Spain's biggest selling newspaper, clearly anticipating the emotions of the Real players.

Real Madrid seemed down-and-out of the championship race in March, lying third and five points in arrears of the league leaders and bitter rivals Barcelona but only suffered one loss in their last 17 games.

"The miracle factory," reflected another Spanish sports daily As on Monday. "Another epic comeback by Madrid in the closest league for many years," added the respected mainstream daily El Pais.

The Spanish title was the first to end with two teams on level points since 1994, with Real getting the verdict over Barcelona owing to their better head-to-head record.

"Madrid, at last, win the league after four years," added another Spanish newspaper ABC, with just a hint of pro-Madrid editorial bias.

The Barcelona-based national papers inevitably took the side of their local team.

"In the end, the miracle disappeared into smoke," said El Periodico on its front page, alongside a picture of a downcast Ronaldinho trooping off the field despite Barca having thrashed bottom club Gimnastic Tarragona 5-1.

Real needed to win to ensure their record 30th title and they did just that, coming from one goal down to capture the championship with three second half goals to beat Real Mallorca 3-1.

Dutch legend Johan Cruyff, who tasted success with Barca as both a player and a coach, tried to pour a little bit of literary cold water on Real's celebrations in his column in La Vanguardia.

"The irony of football is that it's easier to take decisions when you lose. When you win, as happened with Barcelona last season, you want to touch as little as possible. Now Madrid have that hot potato," said Cruyff.

However, not even Cruyff's well-reasoned insight was likely to distract the majority of the Spanish media on Monday, who embarked an almost-rabid congratulatory stream of prose.

"Madrid go to heaven," added As on its inside pages. "The biggest fiesta you've ever dreamed of. There has been 1,456 days since Real Madrid celebrated a league," commented Marca.

There were a lot of sore heads in Madrid on Monday morning, and not just among Spanish newspaper journalists.

An estimated 500,000 Madrid fans flocked to the Cibeles fountain in the centre of the Spanish capital, the traditional celebration point for the club's supporters.

This year, a massive police cordon stopped supporters from reaching the monument as considerable damage has been caused in previous years.

Shields were also erected high above central statue of the goddess of fertility to stop the fans performing the Spanish ritual of throwing bottles into the fountain.

Denied their usual fun, several groups of youths decided instead to throw bottles at the police, which provoking a response of baton charges.

Spanish television pictures showed police apprehending several people and others being treated for injuries but no figures of arrests or hospital admissions have yet to be released.

Real Madrid 38 23 7 8 66 40 76

Barcelona 38 22 10 6 78 33 76

Sevilla 38 21 8 8 64 34 71

Valencia 38 20 6 12 57 42 66

Villarreal 38 18 8 12 48 44 62

Real Zaragoza 38 16 12 10 55 43 60

Atletico Madrid 38 17 9 12 46 39 60

Recreativo Huelva 38 15 9 14 54 52 54

Getafe 38 14 10 14 39 33 52

Racing Santander 38 12 14 12 42 48 50

Espanyol 38 12 13 13 46 53 49

Real Mallorca 38 14 7 17 41 47 49

Deportivo La Coruna 38 12 11 15 32 45 47

Osasuna 38 13 7 18 51 49 46

Levante 38 10 12 16 37 53 42

Real Betis 38 8 16 14 36 49 40

Athletic Bilbao 38 10 10 18 44 62 40

Celta Vigo 38 10 9 19 40 59 39

Real Sociedad 38 8 11 19 32 47 35

Gimnastic Tarragona 38 7 7 24 34 69 28

Champions: Real Madrid

Champions League: Barcelona, Sevilla, Valencia

UEFA Cup: Real Zaragoza, Villarreal

Relegated: Celta Vigo, Real Sociedad and Gimnastic Tarragona