Sant Joan DespíThe earthquake in the absolute Spanish selection is undeniable. Fifteen world-renowned footballers, six from Barça, have decided not to return to the call-up until they are guaranteed a professional structure, as they have in their clubs. Aitana Bonmatí (Sant Pere de Ribes, 1998) is one of them. The Barcelona midfielder breaks her silence and speaks openly about the situation for the first time in a sincere and vindictive conversation with the newspaper ARA.
This season you have taken a step forward in terms of team leadership. Do you feel that way?
— I think I’ve been at a high level for two or three years, especially in important matches. I’ve always been there. If we go over the big dates, sometimes I’ve been there to score the equalizing goal or the first, which is always important. It’s not new, what I’m doing this year.
Do you think it’s more visible because of the power vacuum that’s there with Alexia’s injury?
— Correct, I think it’s more what you say than reality. I am Aitana herself, very ambitious. I always want an improved version of me, but I’m not doing anything different than what I’ve done in the last two or three years. Above all, in the important matches I have been there. If not, we can review his goals and assists. Every year I seek to improve and grow, and I believe that this leadership was already in the other years. It’s a bit vindictive, what I’m saying, but it’s not bad. In the end it is seen more by the need to look for someone who is a reference than by the reality itself.
Unlike other years, the team is receiving more criticism regarding the game. Barça doesn’t just count on winning, it has to have a non-negotiable style.
— Exactly, the club asks all the teams to play well, in addition to winning. But there are matches that need to be solved and maybe you are not so fluent that day. We’ve had a lot of departures and a lot of additions, and it’s something to keep in mind. There are games in which we have played very well and others in which we have not been so successful, but we continue to win and with great force and clarity. The other day we went to the Llevant field, for me the second best team in the League, and we won 0-4. Maybe not with superfluid football, but we left there with an important win. The context must also be assessed, where we come from and what we are doing.
Has the level of clubs in the League improved?
— We have been very, very superior for three years and still, at certain times, we continue to be. But it is true that there are games that get stuck more, and this means that the teams work more and more. And it’s positive, because it makes us grow and makes us work on what we might find ourselves in more advanced months in the Champions League. I have noticed an evolution at a physical level, and this means that the opponents endure the matches with high intensity.
Is the League as professionalized as you were promised?
– No! Only the name has really changed. It has gone from being a non-professional league to a professional one. I only noticed it in the name and, at most, in the fact that we now have television, which was a basic thing, because if not, how do we continue to move forward? If people can’t follow us… But for the rest we are very far from leagues like the English one.
Another element that makes clear the lack of professionalization are the fields.
— Sometimes I go to play in some fields and put my hands on my head. It’s like: do I really have to play here as a professional? We live in parallel and very distant realities. One day we play at Llevant Les Planes, Alhama or Sporting de Huelva, where the grass is horrible, and then we play at Camp Nou. It is necessary to set minimum conditions so that there is less chance of injuring yourself. Because you go there and say, “I’m going to touch my forehead [toquem fusta!] thirty times so as not to injure myself, because I don’t like what I’m seeing.”
At what point is the conflict with the Federation?
— What I would like to make clear is that we are superprofessional and superambitious and what we want is the best for the sake of women’s football. I don’t think the improvements we’re asking for and that we’ve asked for are because they are. It’s not because we had a day like that. We are super professionals and we want the best for Barça and the Spanish national team. We want to fight to be the best in the world and I think that says a lot about us. We are in a delicate moment and I would like both sides to come together and talk, at least. Talk to see how we can fix things for the good of women’s football. Pride aside and everything else: there are many things at stake. And I ask to be able to have a conversation and express opinions. Let us be heard. We don’t do it on a whim, we do it for the sake of women’s football.
You have been called capricious or told that this is a rebeccaria. What do you think of these types of qualifiers?
— In the end, everyone can have their say. We are in a very big media moment, in which these types of things are felt and we have to live with them. People who think that about us or who call us capricious don’t know us well enough.
Were you able to maintain this honest dialogue that you are asking for?
— No, everything is the same and still standing. I would like to approach positions and that this is not a war. We don’t want a war with anyone. They have been very difficult months and for us going to the selection is basic. It is part of our career, part of our life. By not going there we are losing more than gaining. In every way. We are at a time when it would be good to focus and clear things up. For everyone’s sake.
How have you lived these months after the decision?
— It has been very difficult. I was able to learn a lot from those months, how to manage things, because they really weren’t easy at all. Going to the national team is important for us, and to see how we have been treated in the media is not fair. Anyone who knows us knows that we are professionals and that we fight for the best, both for Barça and for the national team. It hasn’t been easy at all.
How did you recover from the situation?
— I was able to overcome by focusing a lot on Barça. The focus was here, and with respect to the selection I couldn’t do much more either. We talked openly about the issue. If you stay things for you get encysted and the ball gets fatter. These are situations that I learned a lot from, and I’m sure I would handle them differently at some other time.
How has this situation affected the dressing room?
— At first it was a delicate moment. Here, when we arrive at the Ciutat Esportiva, everything is Barça, Barça and Barça. The issue of the selection is a matter that has taken a lot of energy from us and, in the end, we have to focus on what we have now, which is Barça.
In the team you are a key piece, that is clear. Do you feel more comfortable than in other seasons?
— I always say that when you don’t think, that’s when you flow. When I don’t think and get over my self-pressure of always wanting ten, eleven and twelve [riu] it’s when things come out on their own and I’m myself. I’ve felt that way in many games, not just this year; in previous seasons as well. But it is true that as a team we are changing and what is asked of me this season is not the same as last year. Last season he had a multi-role: he had to be almost everywhere to help the team in all facets of the game, and this meant that he was not as relevant in the finishing parts, due to a positional issue. In the end, if I’m putting pressure on the opponent’s field but then I’m asked to go and receive the ball in ours to help the start, it’s very difficult to be able to gain all those meters. This involves a lot of wear and tear. On the GPS you can see the curro what port to about [riu].
By not going to the national team, we are losing more than winning.”
Aitana Bonmatí Barca player
Do you feel freer then?
— It’s a topic of role changes that I’ve been asked since thestaff technician This year we have a profile of players like Patri [Guijarro]the Keira [Walsh] said Ingrid [Engen], more positional, and this allows me to have more freedom. Other years maybe there wasn’t that much of a player profile and I had to help in other facets. One good thing I have is that I can adapt to various situations, but obviously I enjoy being close to the area more.
Barça’s way of understanding football and yours are the same.
— It’s the type of game with which I feel most myself: more fluid. When I enjoy the most is having the ball. There are games this year where I haven’t had as much participation because the game has gone more to the left side and I’ve left the game pissed off, saying: “Oysters, I didn’t participate today”. For me possession, contributing in the game, creating chances with the ball is very important. The game we play at Barça is the one I identify with the most and the one I enjoy the most.
Your requirement within the field is also outside. You are the standard-bearer of various social and political struggles. One of them is the Garraf toll.
— Generalitat, listen to me! [riu] I laugh, but I’m not funny! I’m a person who says what I think. There are people who will say that we footballers should not talk about anything other than football and others will complain when we only talk about football. Well, I don’t care what people say and I say what I want, always, obviously, with respect. There are things that are unfair. I come from a very demanding family and it’s in my blood, I can’t help it! the toll [de la C-32] it’s something that makes me black. And not only to me, but to all the inhabitants of the Garraf. It’s overpriced! People who have to come to work in Barcelona or Baix Llobregat must leave half their salary in the toll. I think this is a comparative grievance with many other counties where this does not happen. And when there is a toll that is excessive like the one for the Cadí tunnel, I understand that all the residents of the neighboring counties are 100% free, since they are residents. The alternative we have are the coasts of the Garraf, and it is not a very safe road. At the end of the day, we care about people’s safety, not money. I will continue to claim it because it seems very unfair to me.