There is a generation in Zubieta that is about to become a paradigm within Real. Reaching a rank of such caliber has a select scope, not everyone gets to mark the before and after that would mean qualifying for Europe for the first time. Hence, the Champions League ticket that is about to seal the women’s section is historic. A convinced squad is going for its conquest, with ambition as its flag.
A victory this Sunday (Zubieta, 12:00) against Rayo Vallecano, who have fallen mathematically, will ensure Real finish in the top three positions. It is even possible that the three points or a tie, depending on third results, guarantee the second place.
La Real defends its favorite status, with six points of rent with three games to go compared to Atlético de Madrid, who visits Levante; Real Madrid, which hosts Madrid CFF; and Granadilla, which plays in Lezama against Athletic. All the multiple draws on points favor Real: hence a victory is worth secure access to Europe this Sunday.
The template merges into a conspiracy to go for it all. “There will be people who celebrate the Champions League, but not the team: we want second place, to be the champions of the other league,” proclaims the captain and flagship, Nerea Eizagirre. “Many will say it’s crazy, but once you’re there, everything looks different,” launches the Tolosa for MD. Gemma Gili, a cornerstone in Natalia Arroyo’s scheme, agrees “one hundred percent”, arguing that “we must be ambitious, without conforming”.
The moment of truth is noticeable in the atmosphere of Zubieta. “Every time we notice that the objective is closer and we can’t screw it up now”, illustrates Eizagirre, with amazing clarity. Gemma observes “excitement and desire to materialize the entire year we have been, which is very good”.
Forbidden to be “passenger”
One of the players with the longest journey in the squad, Gemma Gili, breaks one spear after another in favor of Real with blind confidence. “We have overcome the delicate moments, of pressure, the team has shown maturity”, emphasizes the midfielder. That qualification for the Champions “depends completely on us”, in Gemma’s opinion, “is a point in favor and the pressure disappears”, she insists.
La Real hosts Rayo, on the penultimate day they visit a Granadilla team that can also enter Europe and the finishing touch is at home against a saved Alavés. “Winning this Sunday, the second position is closer and we have to think about beating Rayo, nothing else,” says Gemma, backed by the voice of experience.
Eizagirre supports the theory of the next match, but stops at an interesting retrospective, from when he spoke with Aperribay: “I told him that it was not worth a passing year of Champions,” says the Gipuzkoan crack. “That’s why we talk so much about growth, about young women continuing to take steps,” she explains, happy because “we’re building a cool team,” she says. In Zubieta, it is felt that Europe is just around the corner and Real do not shake their pulse to aim high: ‘Here we go’.
Gemma Gili poses for MD in the Z7, with the Real flag
GEMMA GILI
“We will be ready”
“Another added factor” to try to be second, according to Gemma Gili, is that “it is not the same to start competing in early or mid-August than in September” next season, “on top of that with a European Championship and Copa América in between “, Add. It is the difference between being runners-up in the Iberdrola League or finishing third. The ‘silver medal’ is constitutive of a single previous Champions League, while the ‘bronze’ is equivalent to overcoming a very demanding home run.
Gemma guarantees that “I have been lucky enough to play and reach a Champions League final” to support her code words for the future. To get an idea of how the Real will defend itself in the European framework. “We have played games of a high level, enough to think that an important role can be played”, defends the Castellón native. “Being aware” -she clarifies her- “that the first round is very difficult and that it would be our first year”. In any case, “we will be prepared for everything”, believes the txuri urdin.
Gemma admits that it would be “nice and special” to be able to enter Europe with Real, “a club in which history and effort are valued so much”. The “satisfaction” would be “enormous” because “it is a group that deserves it”. Gemma celebrates her second season at Real and renewed for one more, until 2023. “I feel important to Natalia, we have a very similar way of understanding football and I am very comfortable,” she declares.