The Pride of Vallekas

"It was an agreement between clubs. What happened was that I did not want to leave, I was very comfortable at Rayo; we were going to play in Europe and I wanted to stay in Vallecas. I identified with the club and I felt important inside. But they had already reached an agreement and I had to leave; The truth is that it was the saddest moment I had while at Rayo. " -Carlos Llorens It was a painful year for Atlético Madrid. The second top goalscorer in the league, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, belonged to the team second from bottom. Ranieri was dismissed after matchday 26 with the club in administration due to accumulated debts, Radomir Antić took over a squad that was already in a tailspin, sitting in 17th league spot and barely hovering above relegation zone. The team fell into the relegation zone and never came back, they were eliminated from the UEFA Cup in the quarterfinals by Lens, and Antić was fired after matchday 37 after Atlético was already mathematically relegat...

From part 1... And [Antonio Amaya] certainly belonged. The fans loved him and he loved the club - he would even go on to play two games with a broken toe. It reminds me of his older brother, Iván Amaya, who once played with broken ribs while at Granada... Yuma, Iván and Antonio Amaya I'm not a fan of Granada. I never liked that Udinese bought players and "loaned" them to Granada - it was morally reprehensible, and it meant Granada were playing in a different league. And despite Iván Amaya being one of those players, it shouldn't distract from what is, admittedly, a good story. Born in Madrid, Amaya started his professional career at hometown's Rayo Vallecano, playing 31 games with the first team in his first two seasons combined, the first of which was played in the second division, with promotion. After that he returned to the second level but stayed in the city, joining Atlético Madrid for another couple of years as part of the "package dea...

That's right! Give the Facebook page a like here for updates on blog posts and sneak peaks on future posts! A while back  I spoke to NUFCBlog.co.uk about Mohamed Diamé and how at Rayo he developed into the most sought-after prospect in world football: "They had Danny Drinkwater – we had 33-year-old club legend and pass master Míchel. They had Christian Fuchs and we had 39-year-old left-back Carles Llorens. They had Kasper Schmeichel and we had David Cobeño. They had Mark Albrighton and we had Jofre. They had Riyad Mahrez and we had Miguel Albiol. They had N’Golo Kanté, and we had Mohamed Diamé. And while each of those players have stories that are worth sharing, the last one sticks out the most." Now that I've spoken about Mo Diamé, it's time. Here are the other stories. "It was an agreement between clubs. What happened was that I did not want to leave, I was very comfortable at Rayo; we were going to play in Europe and I wanted ...

In 2000, as Atlético struggled to assemble a squad, a package deal of three Rayo players was arranged against their will. I wrote a piece for Into the Calderon about the story - you can read it here . Follow @Vallecanos1924

"It was an agreement between clubs. What happened was that I did not want to leave, I was very comfortable at Rayo; we were going to play in Europe and I wanted to stay in Vallecas. I identified with the club and I felt important inside. But they had already reached an agreement and I had to leave; The truth is that it was the saddest moment I had while at Rayo. " - Carlos Llorens It was a painful year for Atlético Madrid. The second top goalscorer in the league, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, belonged to the team second from bottom. Ranieri was dismissed after matchday 26 with the club in administration due to accumulated debts, Antić took over a squad that was already in a tailspin, sitting in 17th league spot and barely hovering above relegation zone. The team fell into the relegation zone and never came back, they were eliminated from the UEFA Cup in the quarterfinals by Lens, and Antić was fired after matchday 37 after Atlético was already mathematically relegated -...