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Last year, when the members of the Peña Atlético Aviación invited me to their 15th anniversary in March, I hesitated for a moment because I had a feeling the celebration could get out of hand, but I thought it over and concluded it was worth it. After all, when have I ever resisted a good party?

On March 22, early in the morning, I set off for Benavente, a town in the Zamora province, a city that Víctor, a member of the peña, had already shown to Txus and me during our short visit in October 2024. After leaving my things in the room at the La Trucha guesthouse, which Javi (president of the peña) had reserved for me, Isaac came to pick me up and take me to the epicenter of the action: the peña headquarters. I arrived there in a van, accompanied by Patricia Cazón, only to discover that the venue had become too small, so they had set up tents on the street (with permission from the town hall, I suppose), where they had prepared some appetizers to kick things off.

Since its first edition in 2023, I have always attended Atleti en Femenino as a spectator. I was greatly surprised when, a few weeks ago, I received an invitation to participate in this year’s event as a guest at a discussion panel. Of course, I didn’t hesitate for a minute and immediately planned everything to ensure I wouldn’t miss the occasion.

On the afternoon of Tuesday, March 18, I went to the Metropolitano, whose auditorium hosted the third edition of the Atleti en Femenino event. Everything was scheduled to start at 7:03 PM, but we participants were asked to arrive at 6:00 PM to finalize the details. Some of the most prominent figures in the Atlético community related to women’s football gathered at this event, and I was delighted to see Amanda Sampedro behind the scenes with her parents, with whom I chatted for quite a while.

Reaching 57 years as an official Peña is undoubtedly a reason for celebration, and that’s exactly what the Peña Atlética de Pozoblanco in the province of Córdoba did. More than half a century cheering on our Atleti deserves a grand celebration, and we were lucky enough to be invited.

Along with Encarni, president of the Peña Atlética de Pablo Barrios and a personal friend, we set off and stayed at her sister’s house, who lives near Pozoblanco. We arrived on Friday the 14th, and the celebration was planned for Saturday, March 15. Around 11 in the morning, we met up in Pozoblanco with Juan José, president of the Peña, and he had the brilliant idea of showing us how COVAP, a dairy industry, operates. The guided tour was excellent and left all attendees amazed by the experience and the hospitality we received.

There is no worse rival in the Champions League for Atlético de Madrid than their neighbor “the Cheats,” and not because they play good football, but because they resort to every possible trick (even the most devious) to advance on their path to the “Big Ears” trophy.

The draw (or who knows who) decided that there would be another derby in the Champions League to reach the round of sixteen, with the return leg taking place at the Metropolitano Stadium. We decided that this would be the perfect day for our lucky mascot Juliana to visit what is her true home for the first time and introduce herself to our crowd.

On February 1, 2014, Luis Aragonés —DON LUIS ARAGONÉS, the Wise Man of Hortaleza, our beloved “Zapatones”— left us for the third tier of the stadium, orphaning all Atlético fans and all true lovers of football.

Every year, his passing is commemorated, and this year, it coincided with the Atlético de Madrid vs. Mallorca match. The statue of the Wise Man outside the Metropolitano is always a place of pilgrimage for rojiblanco supporters, and on Saturday, even more so.In the morning, Frente Atlético placed a beautiful floral wreath in the shape of Atlético de Madrid’s crest. Throughout the day, thousands of fans visited his statue to remember him and pay their respects.