Uli Hoeness hailed a "magnificent season" from Bayern Munich despite their European agony.
The Bavarians fly back to Munich on Sunday to take part in a procession from the Allianz Arena to the city centre where, like a fortnight ago, they will appear on the balcony of the town hall to parade their silverware.
Although one trophy will be missing, preventing it from being the perfect end to a spectacular season, Hoeness insists there is still enough to celebrate.
"I am obviously disappointed and sad because when you reach a final, you also want to win it, but we should not let this disappointment last for too long," he said.
"We have played a magnificent season and had said before this game that nothing could be taken away from that.
"So we should not start to do that now."
Franck Ribery's new five-year contract is certainly something worth celebrating.
The France international, who missed the Madrid final through suspension, has ended speculation about his future by signing a contract extension until June 30, 2015.
And Hoeness remains optimistic for the future.
He added: "Our team has a great future ahead because it has so many young players.
"In 2011, the final will be in Wembley and then in 2012, it will be in Munich so there are lots of visions and aims for us."
Hoeness was magnanimous in defeat, conceding Inter were the better side.
"Inter were just more experienced than us and we just lacked that bit of calm," he admitted.
"Inter are a fantastic team who also knocked out Barcelona. They scored two goals from three chances while we did not take our biggest chance at the best possible moment - that was the difference.
"It is a long way to the final. There are 12 games and you could also get the luck of the draw or have a bad day.
"I would have to be a clairvoyant to say that we will do it again next year."
However, the thin line between success and failure was clear at the Bernabeu last night.
Bayern dominated the possession stakes, but Inter's defensive tactics proved impenetrable while, with Diego Milito up front, they had just the right man to finish off their rare yet slick and well-worked attacks.
"I think you can say that it wasn't the best team but the most effective team which won," claimed Bayern captain Mark van Bommel, who failed in his bid to win the trophy with a second club having succeeded already with Barcelona.
And another former Barcelona legend, Bayern coach Louis van Gaal, also felt his side could not have got any closer to winning the ultimate prize than they did.
"If we had been in just a bit of a better condition, then we could also have won here," he said.
