As regulars in the Champions League Final, Real Madrid had long since established a mature preparation system to ensure that no part of the team's preparations went wrong. Everything, from training to checking into the hotel before the match, was arranged to be foolproof.
This time, Real Madrid chose the Cardiff Holland House Mercure Hotel, located in downtown Cardiff, the host city of the final, about 1.5 kilometers east of the Millennium Stadium. The hotel was not considered high-end locally—it only had four stars—but its location was excellent. Driving from there to the Millennium Stadium took just ten minutes.
The hotel's facilities were excellent. In fact, the hotel was most famous not for its rooms, but for its spa. As in previous years, Real Madrid booked out all 165 rooms, using them to accommodate the players, coaching staff, employees, invited guests, relatives, and friends.
By comparison, Juventus had chosen a hotel a full twenty kilometers from the city center. It was a resort hotel with beautiful scenery and two golf courses. This reflected the different priorities of the two teams.
Real Madrid placed greater importance on minimizing travel and reducing the players' back-and-forth trips, while Juventus cared more about comfort.
The final would take place at 7:45 p.m. on June 3. Media and fans around the world were eagerly awaiting it, and everyone was nervously anticipating the arrival of this much-anticipated showdown.
Yet, to everyone's surprise, after playing Barcelona in the Copa del Rey Final, Real Madrid was photographed by the media taking their wives and children to the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean, east of Valencia, for a holiday. The entire team had a wonderful time playing on the beaches of Ibiza, leaving media and fans across the world who were following the Champions League Final utterly stunned.
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