The Salzburg–Atlético match did not carry much suspense, but as Juliana’s ‘godmother’, I had great fun taking her into the stand the night before.
01Red Bull Arena · Salzburg
Juliana
Since the away trip to PSG earlier in the season, the spider called Juliana — wearing the red-and-white scarf hand-knitted by her mother — has gradually become known among Atlético supporters. What began as a Halloween toy has slowly acquired a life through one away trip after another.
Her name comes from Julián Álvarez. In Prague, supporters came over specifically to take photographs with her. In Salzburg, her ‘mother’, Carmen, who chairs the German Atlético supporters’ club, was even interviewed by El Chiringuito.
After the match we wondered whether Juliana might one day become Atlético’s second mascot. Perhaps she will. #Salzburg 1–4 Atlético#
02The pre-match gathering · Salzburg
No Atlético supporter is alone
The interview with Juliana and her mother Carmen — with her godmother and pilot in the background — made La Sexta and El Chiringuito look more endearing than I had ever thought possible.
Austria has no Atlético supporters’ club, while the Atlético supporters’ clubs federation, Unión ATM, was absorbed in organising more profitable charter flights. In the end, Carmen and her German peña took on much of the work of receiving supporters and guiding them to the pre-match gathering in Salzburg.
Her notice included one sentence: ‘For us, what matters is that no Atlético supporter is alone’ — Es importante para nosotros que ningún colchonero esté solo. Perhaps inspired by those words, far more Atlético supporters came to the meeting point than we had imagined, especially compared with the smaller gathering in Prague.
Carmen and I will later open an account of Juliana’s own, so that this little creature can truly come alive.