We fell in love again with Luis Muriel

It happened, the heart cannot be commanded, the essential is invisible to the eyes but far from the eyes far from the heart, so we went a little further than that story, beyond that fable, beyond that memory. But now we have fallen for it again, with all the shoes: after the crush on Luis Muriel at the time of his return to Serie A, last January, his arrival at Atalanta makes us even more crazy about him.

It's all because of him, it must be said. We were already very excited at the thought of seeing Gasperini's Atalanta struggling with the European adventure, but now we can only imagine what the Colombian could do in the next Champions League, together with Papu Gomez, Ilicic and his fellow Zapata. His galloping, his unexpected blows, his dribbling in Eurovision: and nothing, we're already excited just thinking about it.

Falling in love in this case is something different, absolutely virtual: like when you imagine how your date will go with a girl you barely know the name, while she doesn't know you at all. Blame the charm of the South American, a heated paella that has returned from Seville with the sole aim of making our hearts beat. And he is succeeding, even if he is succeeding. All we do is think of Muriel, with his semester at Fiorentina still in mind: since he returned to Italy, the Colombian has played 23 games with the Viola shirt between the Serie A and the Italian Cup, scoring 9 all beautiful goals. Wishful to watch him at work in the 2019 Copa America, Lulù was injured leaving the competition prematurely and leaving us a bit like that, disappointed and even more eager to see him again, as soon as possible.

The stages of our love for Muriel

Our love for Muriel can be divided into four precise phases, which basically coincide with her knit changes in Italy. It was Udinese who brought it to our country in 2010, but our first real contact with the Colombian was when he joined Lecce. And it starts right there.

NB: to explain every moment well, it seems appropriate to put also the relative soundtrack of that phase. The songs will all be taken from the discography of (or at least singed by) Franco Battiato to emphasize the absurd beauty of our love for Muriel.

#1 Love at first sight

Luis Muriel arrived in Lecce on August 31st 2011, while another summer was about to set and we all felt more melancholy. We needed something that still made us hope for the future and he arrived like this, out of nowhere, as the most beautiful of summer storms. The double win at Roma was the confirmation of our crush on him, his second goal was cupid's arrow of a new, spontaneous, wonderful feeling. At that time, the only thing we wanted was to see him dance like the gypsies of the desert.

Voglio vederti danzare

come i dervishes turners che girano

sulle spine dorsali

o al suono di cavigliere del Katakali

e gira tutto intorno alla stanza mentre si danza, danza

e gira tutto intorno alla stanza mentre si danza

#2 Falling in love

Udinese realizes he has a rare pearl in his hands and calls him to the base to make him play. We follow him, bewitched by his movements, enchanted by his feints. We follow his black and white jersey dribbling, lost in love, convinced that this story can really work. The phase of falling in love is like this, we all see roses, we see only flowers and birds that sing and Colombian springs that arrive punctually every Sunday. Muriel is a special being, and we will take care of him.

Supererò le correnti gravitazionali

lo spazio e la luce per non farti invecchiare

#3 Abandonment

We have been living with Muriel for several years now, and it seems to work. We have learned to accept his resemblance to Ronaldo every other day, we have also begun to appreciate his moments of darkness, because we see them as the preparation of an even brighter light. We love Muriel, we never want to let it go. And instead he is the one to say goodbye to fly to Spain with his new Iberian bride. We thought it was really the love of our life, we sought in him the tenderness that we did not know how to find in this stupid world and instead ends here.

Guardo le nuvole lassù 

e quando andrò devi sorridermi se puoi 

non sarà facile ma sai

si muore un po' per poter vivere

#4 Return

After a year we have now resigned ourselves to the absence of Muriel. We have not forgotten it, not at all, but we have become used to not having it around anymore. And he, from nothing, decides to return during a cold and unpretentious winter. The bell rings, we go to open and he is there, with a bunch of lilies in his hand, dressed in purple. The Serie A welcomes him with open arms, love has never passed and he repays all the affection with absurd play. And we forgive Luis Muriel for leaving us, aware that we will always go looking for him, even just to see him play, because we need his presence on the pitch.

 

E ti vengo a cercare

anche solo per vederti o parlare

perché ho bisogno della tua presenza

per capire meglio la mia essenza

 Bonus Erasmus 

Erasmus is always an important test for a love story: will the person who leaves be the same who will return? How much can the experience abroad, the distance, affect how the new knowledge can influence? Muriel is the partner who takes a direct flight to Seville to study Spanish football and also changes physically: he has put on a few pounds, he is no longer what he used to be but we are still close to him, loving him for what he is, in everything its abundant brightness. 

E scoprirai

Che nulla è cambiato

Che sono restato 

L'illuso di sempre

Changes

Months have passed, now, from our falling in love with Luis Muriel. And he has already changed his shirt: Atalanta has decided to focus on him, who has responded and seems to be quite enthusiastic with the new jersey n.9 on. The important thing for us is that he stay in Serie A even in the next season of love.

La stagione dell'amore tornerà

Con le paure e le scommesse

Questa volta quanto durerà

Se penso a come ho speso male il mio tempo

Che non tornerà, non ritornerà più