Sant Joan Despí“We have everything,” shouts Joan Dausà from the public address of the Johan Cruyff. The singer from Sant Feliu de Llobregat could not be more right. Barça starts a season with a desire for revenge, with renewed energy and the desire to remove the thorn from Turin. They have everything to win it all. They impose their football, their style and their hunger. They do not think to forgive or kneel before anyone again. Against Montpellier in the second women’s Gamper in history, they took the first firm step (6-0) to regain their crown. The trophies must return to Barcelona and this team can make it happen.
The nightmares of the Champions League final in Turin still haunt the dressing room. That match has left a wound. And the captain, Alexia Putellas, has her in mind. Mollet’s has stepped on Johan Cruyff’s turf again, although not as he would have liked. Without crutches and in street clothes, but in Blaugrana and with his 11 on his back, Alexia took the microphone during the presentation of the team: “What we did last season is no longer useful. We want to be in the third final of the consecutive Champions League and this year yes, to win it or yes! We owe it to you”, he said forcefully. Despite the fact that she is still immersed in the recovery of her previous cruciate ligament away from the green, Mollet de Vallés never fails.
Without her and with a fair staff of cash available due to the plague of injuries affecting the bench, the Gamper has been the ideal setting to test possible solutions for the season. A large part of the gala eleven – indisputable for Giráldez – was in the stands during the ninety minutes of the match. Alexia, Aitana, Hansen, Oshoala… Up to nine players in the squad are out. The situation is critical and Jonatan Giráldez, luckily, can count on resolute and chameleon-like footballers who can adapt to different positions on the green. The drama, however, can become serious if the injuries do not stop and the infirmary does not begin to empty.
Of course, it’s a new season, but old habits remain. The Blaugrana do not lose their hunger for victories and the additions are the perfect shocker. As always, the first steps of the match were clearly dominated by the culers on the Johan lawn. In front of a devoted fan, Geyse had a sweet premiere on the new garden salary. The striker took advantage of a fine cross from Fridolina Rolfö from the side of the area to open the scoring. Dancing like the good Brazilian soccer player that she is, she celebrated her first goal in the fortí culer in the match where the brand new European champion, Englishwoman Lucy Bronze, also made her debut at home.
With the ball stuck at their feet, the locals have done and undone to their liking already ahead in the light. Looking for connections between the lines and with forcefulness in the post-loss pressure, Jonatan Giráldez’s have reigned in front of a rival who has struggled to get the water out of a ship that kept sinking. Due to the delirium culer, these efforts of the French have been of no use and Patri Guijarro has signed the second with a goal for the house. The midfielder took the ball from outside the area and sent a missile into the back of the net. The cobwebs on the left wing born of the summer break have disappeared with the genius of Palma. Even more, the Mallorcan recovered to add the third before the whistle that signaled the way to the changing rooms with a header from the penalty spot.
Geyse, Barça’s top scorer, continued to harass Romane Slavador’s goal in the second half. A few seconds have passed since the ball started rolling until it ended up in the back of the French team’s goal. The striker, despite being offside, headed home inside the small area and the target went on the scoreboard due to the lack of VAR. The strength of the French women was of no use against an exultant Barça. Rolfö was responsible for signing the Barça striker with a header that entered the goal in slow motion moments before Ariana Arias, a new addition to the subsidiary, decided the match.
“Let the children copy it, let the kings bow and let the old people freak,” says Dausà and second Jonatan Giráldez’s Barça on the green. With a crowd full of rascals and with the young promises of La Masia emerging, this team is rewriting history. Not only to raise physical titles, but by creating illusions and shattering beliefs and prejudices that had been installed in our society for too long.