Melissia is a quiet area in the northern suburbs of the city and their club currently plays in the second regional division of Athens. Their ground is quite charming, surrounded by trees in a residential location, just next to the Amalia Fleming hospital. When we arrived, the club told us that, absurdly enough, the stadium’s only stand had been closed by the mayor because he didn't like them (??). I guessed it was due to safety reasons, though that still didn’t make much sense.

As for the game, this has to be the most insane first half of football I’ve ever seen. Just last week, Alsoupoli had been struggling to score against a ten-man side and were being criticised by their fans for failing to create chances so far this season. I genuinely wondered what had changed when I saw them score as many goals in the first 30 minutes today as they had in total for the entire season so far. But that’s not even half of the story.

The game started with Alsoupoli opening the scoring early on. It didn’t take long for Melissia to equalise, but just moments later, Alsoupoli regained the lead, making it 1-2 in the 12th minute. From there, the home side made a comeback, scoring twice to take a 3-2 lead. However, the visiting side quickly turned the game around again, adding three more goals. The first half ended with a 3-5 scoreline! The second half was less eventful, with Melissia pushing to close the gap but despite their efforts, they only scored once in the dying moments of the game.