Alexia Putellas: “Now I know myself much better and I’m really enjoying it”

MADRID, 23 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The Spanish international and FC Barcelona player Alexia Putellas has assured that after her serious injury she knows “much more” and that allows her to “enjoy a lot” of football, and has recognized that “the energy, ambition and motivation” continue ” intact” for her.

“I know myself much more, I know my virtues more and, above all, the things that I have to improve. And I know my body, I know my head. I know football a lot more. I am very happy, enjoying it a lot,” he said in an interview with The Stringer of the SER Chain. “I’m really enjoying it. Every time I get up in the morning and go to train, I’m super happy. I look around me, at my family, at my friends, and everything is going well,” he added.

The Catalan, who has accumulated six goals and three assists in seven games with Barça, explained that she works every day to be “better.” “My obsession and my ambition lead me to make each training session better,” he said. “It has been hard. Mentally it is a very messy injury. But in the end you also need time, you need peace of mind, and many times because of the figure that is formed around you you do not have it. But I have also learned that there are things that you cannot control, What depends on you is what you have to do,” he said.

“I’m 30 years old. I talk to Torrejón a lot and he tells me ‘sister, you’ve been around for a long time and it seems like you’re almost 40’. That’s good, it means that there is a good future. Age is a number. The important thing is energy , the ambition, the motivation, and that for my part is intact,” she continued about the fact of being one of the oldest.

In another order of things, he assessed Barça’s situation. “The bulk of the team is the same, there have been ups and downs, the coach… We also need adaptation, each coach is different. It was a matter of games, in these last ones the team has had good feelings. We are in October, this ends to start and what we have to do is progress, continue improving and reach the final stretch with options to win all the titles, which is the objective we have,” he expressed.

He also took away the irony of the defeat in ‘Champions’ against Manchester City. “A defeat humanizes you, especially after winning for so long. In that game nothing works for us, everything works for them, we are bad and they are very good. Manchester City almost won the Premier last year. We drew conclusions, we did individual and collective self-criticism, and now we have to grow, because this has just begun,” he explained.

Furthermore, Putellas confessed that he “never” saw himself outside of Barça. “For my part, no. I have always been clear about it, the moment I feel that I do not have this energy I will be the first to raise my hand. The commitment I have with the club of my life is to give my all every training session and every game. The moment I don’t feel comfortable or I don’t feel like going to train, I will be honest,” she revealed.

On the other hand, the Spanish captain acknowledged that they are “very eager” to face the next Euro Cup. “We are really looking forward to it, not only because of the way the Games ended, our last championship, but because it was the tournament in which I was injured the day before it started. It is a tournament that the men’s team has won this summer and It would be great for us to achieve it. We are going to see these first friendly matches and begin to grow together and approach the goal well,” she stressed.

Regarding the women’s Ballon d’Or, she hopes that “someone” from her “team” wins it, and believes that it will be “between Carol -Caroline Graham Hansen- and Aitana -Bonmatí-“. “They both had a great year, I hope she stays in Barcelona. It hasn’t been my best year, although in the end you look at the numbers and with the nonsense… It’s a year in which I was injured for three months, it cuts you off a little the rhythm,” she said, highlighting that the fact that there are so many teammates nominated “continues to demonstrate the high level of Spanish football.”

However, regarding the male award, he did express his desire. “As a midfielder, I obviously have a weakness for midfielders, and I love Rodri. I understand that there are also players who have been very decisive for their club,” he stated.

Putellas also did not avoid the theme of the documentary ‘It’s over. Diary of the Champions’, which will premiere on November 1 on Netflix. “These are topics that make me uncomfortable. I understand that they are situations that happen. The documentary was recorded a year ago, it is not recent, at that time there were many versions, there were many points of view. In the summer you had the World Cup and anything like that. It could cause some instability for the goal. They tried to fix it behind closed doors, they reached the World Cup, they started recording this and each one comes out giving their version of how they experienced it. one explaining what he felt,” he analyzed.

He also believes that Spanish football is better than before. “I debuted in 2013, we did an open-door training and no one came, not even calling people. Now everything has changed, it’s incredible how they turn to us in all the cities, girls, boys, families, everyone” , he indicated.

Putellas was also happy to see Gavi return after his serious injury. “It is one of the worst injuries that can happen to you. We are seeing that it is becoming more and more common, we see it in cases like Carvajal or Rodri. Always when you come back from an injury like this it is a reason for joy for everyone. I am happy and grateful because I have recovered very well, but I know that the reality is that sometimes there are people who do not return to play and chain injuries and do not come out, and it is screwed. So, when a player comes back from an injury like that, it is a reason. of joy, you feel privileged because there are people who don’t come back,” he said.

Finally, the Barça player spoke about the work of her Eleven Foundation. “I have learned a lot about the management process, legal issues, how everything works and administration. The foundation is not so much a sporting issue, it is not so much about becoming a footballer, it is more a matter of integration. It is especially so that girls who do not have as much access to soccer due to economic, sociocultural or family problems, can have the same access that I have been able to have,” he expressed.