final, which ended level; Olimpia was awarded the crown on the basis of a superior regular season record. Real, however, was not finished—they came right back by beating Motagua 2–1 to win the 1990–91 championship. Rodolfo Richardson Smith was the hero, scoring a double in the second leg of the finals. La máquina only narrowly missed a second consecutive crown when they bowed to Motagua in the 1991–92 title match. Two years later, in 1993–94, Real España hoisted their seventh championship in the most dominant style of all, by winning both the regular season and triangular playoff. No championship match was necessary in this most impressive season; out of 31 domestic matches, la maquina had lost just once. The leader of the charge that season was Carlos Pavón, an 18-year-old striker who was attracting all sorts of international attention. Pavón would leave after the season to spend a decade abroad, playing in Mexico and Italy. Real, meanwhile, entered a decade long title drought. Their return to glory came in Apertura 2003, under the managerial leadership of Juan de Dios Castillo. Castillo had built his team around two Brazilian strikers, Pedrinho and Luciano Emilio, and it paid off. Luciano Emilio won the league scoring title, and each scored in the championship final, which saw Real España defeat Olimpia 4–2 on aggregate. However, the glory was fleeting. Diaz Castillo left for Marathon, while Olimpia signed Luciano Emilio and used his talents to win four out of the next five titles. Those were frustrating times, as Real missed the championship playoffs four tournaments in a row. It was not until Clausura 2007 that the club returned to form. Under Mexican manager José Treviño, the club won the regular season title and stormed into the playoffs. Treviño had a strong team--Carlos Pavón had returned from Europe, and was joined at striker by Milton Núñez and the Brazilian Esvaldo Ferreira. A victory over Motagua earned them a berth in the finals against crosstown rivals Marathon. Marathon won the first leg, 2–1, which set up a dramatic championship showdown. With just thirteen minutes left in the last leg, the teams were level, 1–1, which would have given Marathon a win on aggregate. However, Milton Núñez scored a brilliant goal to even the tie, then used his perfect aerial pass to set up Ferreira for the winning goal. Real España were champions of Honduras for the ninth