Champions

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.

We only needed a draw in Salzburg to automatically qualify for the Champions League round of 16. And since we were all confident we would achieve it and no one wanted to miss the party, we packed winter clothes in our backpacks and set off for the city of Mozart.

The train was the chosen means of transportation for most of us, and from Cologne, six of us traveled together. We had booked in advance and began marking our territory on the train by decorating the tables with the flags of the supporters’ group, on which we laid out an appetizing meal that sparked envy among the other passengers.

There are blogs, vlogs, and other nonsense meant to replace the travel chronicles of those who truly travel. Because no one will ever understand what it means to follow Atlético Madrid if they prefer to try the local cuisine instead of mingling with the fans, take a car or public transport instead of joining the fan march and singing at the top of their lungs, and when they don’t fully immerse themselves in the red-and-white passion with everything it entails.

Paris Saint-Germain. Parc des Princes. Paris. Champions League. Atlético de Madrid. Who could resist all that appeal? So we ordered our tickets through the peña and headed to Paris.

Thanks to the friendship connecting us with other peñas, we managed to organize a comfortable and easy trip: some members of the Peña Atlética of Germany joined the trip organized by Peña Atlético de Madrid Gent, and we all traveled together on the same bus along with our brothers from Panadero Díaz in Brussels. We’re not used to such comfort, and sharing the trip with other red-and-white fans, along with some beers and sandwiches, turned out to be an absolute pleasure. For the first time, we were joined by Juliana, our spider mascot named in honor of Julián Álvarez, who made it through the journey without a scratch. Other members of our peña traveled by train and even by plane.

When the Champions League draw came out and it was announced that Atlético de Madrid would play against Borussia Dortmund in the quarterfinals, we, as the Peña Atlética de Alemania, jumped for joy. Finally, Atleti was coming to Germany Since we became an official peña, we hadn’t had the luck of hosting our team here, and we took it as a gift and an unparalleled opportunity to show how great our peña is.