Greatest Games of My Life #6 - Atletico Madrid 2-1 Valencia, 2015.

It was October 2015, I was 15 years old and I was in Madrid. My Dad was with me too and we had a cracking game in stall for us. It was the mighty Atletico Madrid taking on Valencia.

It was back in the day when I was in year 11 at school, my school mates would ask me why I was going to see Atletico and not Real Madrid? Well there's something about Real Madrid that's just, well, bugged me. I've never been able to bring myself to like them. Especially after their own fans booed club legend Iker Casillas in 2015 - I was outraged by that.

Anyway Atletico Madrid on the other hand are still one of the best sides in Spain - they're just overshadowed by their city rivals. Real Madrid are and will always be one of the biggest, if not the biggest club in the world. What baffled myself and Dad was the football stores in Madrid.

Every store we went to had so many Real Madrid and Barcelona shirts on sale with the typical club merchandise like footballs and club scarves etc. They barely had anything for Atletico Madrid! Atleti just had a little spot in the corner that was selling club merchandise like pencil cases and hats! For crying out loud the club had won the league two years prior to 2015. And why did they have so many Barcelona tops on sale in Madrid?! That's like going to Manchester and finding Liverpool shirts on the hangers. Crazy.

Real might have all the success but Atletico have the passion. The fans are incredible. When we were making our way to the old Vicante Calderon, the noise was insane. "Atleti! Aleti! Aletico de Madrid!" was belting out outside the ground before kick-off. These were the best fans in Europe I thought to myself.

We made our way into the old Vicente Calderon. A typical Spanish football stadium - no roof over our heads and not quite as concealed as English football grounds. 75% of the stadium curved round which made it feel bigger than it actually was. We had perfect seats too - front row on the second tier. The build up to the game had a different feel to English football too as the players were warming up to what sounded like some pretty awesome guitar music. In England, it's whatever's on the bloody charts. I remember for a Brighton game once they played a One Direction song whilst the players were warming up. Are you f***ing kidding me?!

Anyway, rant over.

As well as the build up to the game, the match itself had a completely different feel to the English game. A better feel? Oh I think so.

Now I love my club in England and I love watching them but this game made me not want to watch English football again. In Spain, the football is very technical and is played at a fast tempo. You don't see as many 50/50's as you do in the Premier League. The football is very clean and attractive and Atletico Madrid were unbelievable to watch - as the saying goes, it was just like watching Brazil. Who are Real Madrid again?

"Football in Spain is a very technical game. The best football is played here." - Manuel Pellegrini.

The ball (most of the time) likes to be kept on the deck in Spain but the first goal was the most route one goal ever! A long ball was played by the Atletico left back which two Valencia defenders failed to deal with. The ball fell into the path of striker Jackson Martinez - who slotted it home for 1-0.

Sounds exactly like a Sunday league goal!

Yannick Carrasco would score Atletico's second goal. He won the ball on the left hand side of the field, cutting inside on his right foot after some nice footwork to get away from the Valencia defender - Bang! On that lethal right foot.

2-0, Atletico fans go wild in the packed Vicente Calderon under the night sky in the Spanish capital. The atmosphere was incredible from the 54,900 fans. Madrid manager Diego Simone did his classic wave of the arms to get the fans singing whenever the team needed it the most. He has to be one of the most underrated managers in world football.

Valencia on the other hand, had a very small turn out in the upper tier of the stadium - right in the corner! To be fair to them they were singing and having a good time but no way were Atletico going to be outsung by them.

"Vamos Atleti Vamos, Vamos Atleti Ale!"

Valencia would go on to score a penalty in the second half but they wouldn't be able to score an equaliser to make it 2-2. A victory for Atletico Madrid under the lights at the Vicente Calderon.

Thank you Atletico and thank you Madrid.

By Ed Ettridge