BARCELONA, Spain (AFP) — Barcelona’s Europe-conquering heroes paraded in an open-top, double-decker bus yesterday in a wild samba-style celebration of their Champions League triumph.

Barca landed at 4:00 pm (1400 GMT) at Barcelona-El Prat airport bringing home the trophy after their 3-1 demolition of Manchester United in London’s Wembley Stadium.

Coach Joseph Guardiola and Carles Puyol, both wearing jeans and black T-shirts emblazoned with the letters “CHA-MPI-ONS” held the cup aloft at the top of the plane stairs.

Along with Man-of-the-Match Lionel Messi the team posed for photographs and boarded an open-top, double-decker bus decked out in Barcelona’s red and blue and the word “Champions” on the sides.

Accompanied by the deafening blast of Brazilian samba music and cheered by thousands of fans under a baking hot sun, the heroes weaved past the city’s statue of Christopher Columbus on which fans clung for a better view.

David Villa, who scored the third goal, could be seen spraying teammates with canned beer. Andres Iniesta leaned over the top of the bus to snap pictures.

“Messi, Messi, throw me a shirt,” shouted one young fan. His friend carried a girl on his shoulders and, as the bus moved through the palm-lined streets, he instructed her: “Throw a kiss to Messi.”

“We are the best, in football, in success, but also when we lose,” said Jordi Macabeu from a Barcelona supporters’ club.

Municipal vans opened up the masses to let the team pass and, a few paces in front of the bus itself, Catalan mounted police paraded in red full-dress uniform.

Barcelona players will be holding tight to the Cup to avoid repeating the embarrassing slip-of-the-hands of arch-rivals Real Madrid’s defender Sergio Ramos.

Ramos infamously let a 15-kilo national trophy, the King’s Cup, slip from his grasp in the April 21 celebrations in the Spanish capital, whereupon it was run over and crushed into pieces by the team bus. Ramos sent a message on Twitter yesterday to congratulate his friends in the Barcelona squad for their win.

In Barcelona, many tourists joined the football fans.

“As an Englishman it pains me,” said one tourist, John Stirling, admitting however that he had joined Barcelona fans in a city-centre party that raged Saturday night as his way of thanking them for great football.

The parade culminates at the Barca stadium Camp Nou, which has a capacity of 100,000. Celebrations including concerts are on a two-hour programme starting 8:30 pm (1830 GMT).

Barcelona defender Gerard Pique said immediately after the win Saturday that he would go with his teammates to finish the night at a concert by his girlfriend Shakira who is playing in Barcelona.

The 24-year-old Pique met Shakira last year while shooting the video to her song Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) — the official track of the 2010 World Cup won by Spain.