Women's football: Formula Barça – AS.com

“Barça has written a chapter that nobody will forget”Barça coach Lluís Cortés said after his team finished last Sunday its long-awaited triplet and the achievement of the eighth Copa de la Reina for the Catalan club. His words were filled with excitement and joy. Two feelings that come together with the tranquility of someone who does a splendid job.

The Barça coach has led a team like no other, a squad that is already worth studying. And it is not only for the final success (She has won the League, the Cup and the first women's Champions League for Spanish football), but because of how it has gotten to this point. His reign is enormous, taking more than two years without losing in the League. Specifically, he lost his last game in the national competition on May 5, 2019 against Granadilla. So the Catalan team they lost to Granadilla (1-0) on the last day of a league (2018-19) that ended up lifting Atlético de Madrid.

The one of the Barça is the way that now many want to follow. It is the example that a bet and a job well done always have positive rewards. It has been a journey with obstacles and constant criticism, with sacrifice as a duty for all its protagonists, but with an abysmal prize. Here it is good to say that he who wants something, something costs him. And this Barça has wanted to be more than anyone. He has worked for it. And he has succeeded.

Proof of this are the numbers and data that this team reflects in recent years, in which it boasts of having a squad of world stars such as Jenni Hermoso, Graham Hansen or Alexia Putellas, among others. And also its historical record. And is that It is not only the first Spanish club to have won a women's Champions League, after sweeping Chelsea 0-4 in the European final in Gothenburg.

It is also the team with the most league titles (6) and the most Queen's Cup trophies (8), dominating both competitions in the last two seasons. What's more, they also won the first and new Spanish Super Cup last season, in which they made a triplet in the League, Cup and Super Cup. This last title is the great thorn in this season, in which Barça fell in the semifinals against Atlético (1-1), with a 3-1 victory on penalties for the rojiblancas.

The success of this Barça cannot be understood without its pioneers. And this brilliant project also pays tribute to all those women who fought to create and sustain the idea of ​​a Barça team in women's football. Either as a Barcelona City Team, as a Barcelonista Feminine Club or as a Barcelona Women's Club. All attempts now collect their reward in the great milestones of the current Barça.

To understand the hegemony of the women's section in the culé club, we must pay attention to the long history of struggle behind it. A trajectory full of misunderstandings caused by a society that did not understand the desire and claim of women to play soccer, traditionally within masculine ideals.

It all started in 1970 in the mind of a great lover of this sport: Imma Cabecerán. This brave young woman had an initiative that would change the history of Barcelona. Although at that time no one suspected what would be to come 50 years after this Barça fan At the age of 18, he was planted in the office of the Barça president, Agustí Montal, to ask for a women's team.

His impulse, with the meeting held in November 1970, was fruitful. It is already known that every conquest begins with the intention of trying. And his vigor reached a very good port. Montal did not refuse to do so, assuring that if they found women to form a women's team, Barça would end up supporting him.. No sooner said than done…

This intrepid young woman got down to work looking for partners and decided to put an ad in the Barcelonista Magazine. The announcement was published on November 17, with little time to prepare everything, but Cabecerán managed to put together the team that took to the field that Christmas day without the recognition of the azulgrana club. What now appears on posters with the distinction of great pioneers, in those years was in the mere astonishment of the curious who were surprised by the momentum of those girls who only wanted to play football and do so while defending the azulgrana.

That was the first women's football match of what is now FC Barcelona. It was played on the occasion of a charity festival on Christmas Day and faced this group of players with a culé heart at the Camp Nou against UE Centelles. The duel ended 0-0, resolving 4-3 on penalties in favor of the Barça pioneers.

Also counting those who would come out later from the bench, these were the first 17 female soccer players in Barcelona: Maria Antònia Mínguez, Llera, Giménez, Pilar Gazulla, Lluïsa Vilaseca, Aurora Arnau, Anna Jaques, Maite Rodríguez, Inmaculada Cabecerán, Núria Llansà, Alicia Estivill, Blanca Fernández, Lolita Ortiz, Consuelo Pérez, Carme Nieto, Fina Ros and Glòria Comas.

All of them were trained by the legendary former Barça player, Antoni Ramallets, who held the position for about a year. However, they did not look like Barça players. This was because they were not officially recognized by the catatan club. A) Yes, none of them could wear Barça or carry the name or shield of the culé entity. Given this, they decided to call themselves the City of Barcelona Selection and wore a white shirt, blue pants and Barça socks.

After that match, the women's team, which had been renamed the Barcelonista Feminine Peña, will also play at the Camp Nou the final of the Pernod Cup against Espanyol (1-2), The meeting being on March 28, 1971. Months later, December 8 In 1971, the Barcelona team met Espanyol again at the Stadium (2-2), as a preliminary to a friendly for the men's team against Vasas in Budapest with 40,000 spectators in the stands.

After these precedents, in which in no case was the official name of Barcelona for women carried, it took 50 years for the Camp Nou to reopen its doors to women's football, being the first time that he wore an official team in this category.

This happened on January 6, on the occasion of a Barça-Espanyol derby. The official debut of the Catalans in the culé temple was unbeatable, with a 5-0 hand. Alexia Putellas scored the first goal for the women's team at the Camp Nou. Other historical first team veterans such as Marta Torrejón or Melanie Serrano joined as scorers. And the party was rounded off by Martens and Crnogorcevic, two of the first-team signings in recent years.

“We were protagonists because we wanted to play soccer. We planted the sowing 50 years ago and we have harvested the harvest in the Champions League achieved by this Barça. I and all the players who have passed through Barça now feel a great satisfaction. And also all Spanish women's football also has to be proud, “he commented in a exclusive interview for AS María Teresa Andreu, who was a player for the Peña Femenina Barcelonista, a team founded in 1971 and the germ of what today looks like the best team in Spain and Europe.

Andreu, who after hanging up his boots was the coach and president of the women's team and a member of the Barça Board of Directors, lives with great emotion the sweet moment that Lluís Cortés is starring in. “A piece of that European Cup is one of all those that started this women's football 50 years ago. It is very great what they have done“Andreu continued, who confessed to having a great” healthy envy “of the players of now.

“I wish I could be 25 years old and be winning everything with Barça. But I enjoy it just the same. My time passed and I enjoyed it a lot. The satisfaction I have is that Barça has made a bet and it has turned out very well. What makes me most proud of today's women's football is that it is a fact, a reality. You used to talk about women's football and they asked you: do women play football? Now, everyone talks about it and they even know the players“Andreu continued, a faithful follower of all Barça matches at Johan Cruyff.

“This football attracts women, girls and also men. There are even men who are getting into it because they enjoy women's football more, with the nobility that this category has and without that force of the brutal entries that are seen in the male “, points out the former Barça manager, who is very happy to have been able to learn about the great professionalization of the female Barcelona.

“I am very proud of this change, of the great difference between what we had and what they have now. Now they count from a nutritionist to any specific care they may need. They are treated the same as Barça men, less in salaries. They do the same as the male and have great care that we did not have before “, underlines María Teresa Andreu.

As previously mentioned, Andreu was part of the Barcelonista Feminine Club. Remember that This team received material and financial support from Barça since its birth in 1971, they were even able to wear Barça. However, the club did not recognize him institutionally. For this reason, the shield still did not appear on their shirts.

There would be one more name change until reaching the female FC Barcelona: the Barcelona Women's Club. This team with Barça essence won on June 26, 1994 the first title for Barça women's football: the Copa de la Reina. He did so by defeating Oroquieta Villaverde de Madrid 2-1 in the final.

From Cup to Cup, this being the last trophy raised these days (last Sunday, May 30, after winning Levante 4-2) by FC Barcelona, ​​which was officially born on June 26, 2002. At this moment, the women's team finally becomes one more of the culé organization chart.

The official beginnings of this club were complicated. It took a lot to be one of the greats on the national scene, but finally it was achieved. Much to do with it had the arrival of coach Xavi Llorens in 2006, in which a golden age with four Leagues, five Queen's Cups and nine Catalan Cups. Everything led to the most anticipated and decisive moment for this entity: the professionalization of the team in the summer of 2015.

A fact that he wanted to review and value the Secretary of State for Sports, José Manuel Franco, which on Monday presented the Gold Plaque of the Royal Order of Sports Merit (ROMD) of the CSD to the first women's team of FC Barcelona for their great sporting career. “We recognize the commitment of a club that has always bet on women's football. A firm and determined commitment by women in sport that now has its fruits. It is the third best team in the world with its own style and being sustainable. The key was undoubtedly the decision to professionalize the team“, stressed the president of the CSD.

And the truth is that this was the great step that determined the good course that the club is taking today. At that time, a great commitment to women's football began, which continues today, structuring more and better then the female quarry. And it is that with the professionalization, another category was also created in its training structure, the Alevín-Benjamín Female, with results that today leave a great weight of the quarry in the first team (About ten players from the current first team were trained in the lower categories).

Sonia Bermúdez is another of the authorized voices to speak of this Barça. Historic scorer of the club until this season, in which Jenni Hermoso beat her record of 123 goals, the Madrid-born remembers how she arrived and passed through the Barça club in a exclusive interview with AS. “I always speak very well of Barça because it brings back very good memories. Xavi Llorens called me twice when I was at Rayo Vallecano. At the third time I signed because of the bad situation I had at Rayo. They told me that I was going to grow a lot and that they were going to bet on women's football and they were not wrong“, Sonia begins highlighting.

“I was there for four years and we always went from less to more. When I arrived we were training in the late evening and then we started training at 5:00 p.m. Just when I left they were going to train in the morning and the club had better conditions when traveling. I spent four incredible years there and only by stepping on the sports city I realized the magnitude that this team could have for the future. And that's how it has been, “says Bermúdez, who left Barça in the same summer of 2015 in which professionalization began.

The recently retired Spanish player highlights the importance of professionalizing the Barça women's team. “It is essential not to have to combine football with another profession in order to achieve maximum performance. In previous years I worked, studied and trained and these were the years that injured me the most in my career. To be a footballer is to be one 24 hours a day, “he explains.

And he continues: “Being a soccer player means getting up and having your mind on soccer all day. You have to eat well, rest and recover. Travel, from coming by bus to going by plane changes a lot, especially to have good legs and rest them for another training session or game. Everything has repercussions for the player to perform at 100% “, highlights the former Spanish scorer.

From 2015 to 2019, another of the key years in the history of this team, who faced his first Champions League final in Budapest. Then, the Barcelona team was measured with the almighty Olympique de Lyon, that added five continental crowns between 2015 and 2020. A cross that was a disappointment for the culé squad (defeat 4-1). But, also deep learning.

The Barça took and turned that appointment in a great point of inflection. Proof of this is his great game now, being the top scorer in the League and the Champions League. The Catalan team has matured its ideas and has doubled its preparation in form, type and efforts. The way of thinking and competing was changed, keeping intact their style, with which they show off the best Barça DNA, and the pillars of the dressing room that reached the first final of a Spanish club.

Not many faces have changed at Barça in these two years. The Barcelona team has the same coach, Lluís Cortés, and a large percentage of players (14 of the current 24) who lived the European experience in Budapest. Nor has there been a flurry of signings after that final. In the current squad the young academy players (Bruna Vilamala, Jana, Laia Codina …) take more weight than the new stars.

Although there is also an example of the latter, with a great role of Jenni Hermoso, who experienced the final in Budapest as a fan from the stands and then decided to return to the team where he had raised his first league goals and where he continues to score like the most. The signing of Graham Hansen also stands out, great dagger of the Catalans in these two years that he has been as culé.

With them, the change has been more possible. Its quality and potency on green has fitted perfectly into a project that was presented in Budapest 2019 and that finished its work in Gothenburg 2021, with the San Sebastián fiasco in between (they were eliminated by the minimum being far superior to Wolfsburg in the semifinals).

Unrivaled in the national arena, being the current champion of the last two Leagues and two Cups, Barça has staged everything that was proposed after succumbing to Lyon, which they now accompany in the European Olympus. “After Budapest, the goal was to be the best in Europe,” said Lluís Cortés in the run-up to the European final with Chelsea.

The Barça coach summarizes in a few words what was a whole pact and change of chip in the Barca dressing room. Players and coaching staff decided to make a clean slate, with an enviable capacity for self-criticism. And the result was on the green, with a brilliant game and an overwhelming level. Barça went from cinderella to coconut. From defenseless to almighty.

The Barça team passed over Chelsea, which they annulled with just setting foot in Gamla Ullevi. His dominance was as overwhelming as it was effective, with a 0-4 at halftime after goals from Leupolz (own goal), Alexia Putellas, Aitana Bonmatí and Graham Hansen. The three players led a Barça that shone like never before and that turned Gothenburg into sacred territory.

Lluís Cortés's painting was a roller against the English, with more budget (seven million for the six of the Spanish) and the same ambition to lift the first Champions League in its history. Despite this, the triumph was culé. And the party for Barça and all Spanish football, who watched expectantly through their televisions, with a record audience for the same women's soccer game.

“The success of Barça does not surprise me because they have been working very well for many years. The players demanded it and the club and the coaching staff responded well. The result is there. It doesn't matter which team you are from. But I think that all the people in women's football were excited and enjoyed Barça's achievement in the Champions League. This is very good for Spanish football and for women's football to come, “Sonia Bermúdez told AS.

“They have had no rival in Spain. They have made a very compact team and know each other very well, gaining in competitiveness and physical strength. If you analyze the two finals, the one in Budapest and the one in Gothenburg, the match is traced but on the contrary. It was fantastic, “says María Teresa Andreu, who greatly admires the team's ability to learn from mistakes in Budapest, a final which she attended as a guest with other pioneers.

“It is a pleasure to see them play because they have a lot of 'feeling' and are very organized on the field. There is no lack of control or glaring mistakes. It is all compact equipment. The other day they asked me to highlight a player and I can't. I like the whole set as it is structured. The best of all is that when Lluís Cortes makes changes, it doesn't even show. That is the essence of a team“, adds the ex Barcelona player.

You cannot understand all this Barça success without Lluís Cortés. The Barça coach, who recently renewed his contract until June 30, 2022, was the one who learned the most from his 4-1 defeat in the 2019 final against Lyon in Budapest and changed the way of working of its staff to be one of the giants of Europe.

Since his arrival in January 2019 to replace Fran Sánchez, of whom he was an assistant, the Catalan coach has reached two Champions League finals and a semi-final, winning the European title this season. At 34 years old, the Catalan coach led the level increase of this section and has managed to show that this is the correct path based on titles.

With the, The team experienced a relaunch that, based on good football, has left a Champions League, two Leagues, two Cups in the club's showcases and a Super Cup. A great success backed by good feelings, being “always faithful to a daring and showy style of play”, according to Barça himself.

With the Champions in his pocket, it was time to take the next step: the triplet. And the Barça did not fail. The Catalans managed to complete their feat last Sunday, lifting the Cup and closing that dreamed triplet. With him starts a new era in Spanish football, It has before it the fifth team in Europe that has managed to win the great League, Cup and Champions triplet.

Three titles that only four teams had won before: Arsenal (2007), Olympique de Lyon (2012, 2016, 2017, 2019 and 2020), FFC Frankfurt (2002 and 2008) and Wolfsburg (2013). In this way, the Lyon team is the great rival to beat in the history of continental women's football. With a privileged place in this club of great teams in Europe, Barça is now also pursuing full titles next season, with the aim of adding to the triplet the Super Cup that this year resisted.

Sonia Bermúdez goes further and aims to equal Lyon's five Champions League in a row. “El otro día hablaba con Alexia Putellas de que el triplete es histórico, pero las futbolistas son tan competitivas y tan ganadoras que ya tienen otros objetivos en mente. El Lyon ha ganado cinco Champions seguidas. Pues el reto ahora es alcanzarles. Este año no han ganado la Supercopa y el próximo año buscarán pleno de todos los títulos también. Por eso ha ganado tanto, que no se ha conformado con ganar la Liga y ha buscado más”, señala.

La ex delantera del Barça ve muy positiva la hegemonía del club catalán. “La gran apuesta del Barça tiene un efecto llamada. El club azulgrana es un espejo para el resto de clubes, que se han dado cuenta que con apuesta, económica y de recursos, y trabajo se pueden conseguir grandes logros. Ellas han puesto los cimientos de todo lo que está por venir. Es algo muy positivo para el fútbol femenino porque los equipos que quieren aspirar a este éxito ya conocen el camino”, indica Sonia, que relata la “inmensa alegría” que hay en el vestuario del Barça.

“Están felices. La sensación que dan es que todavía no son conscientes. Y es normal. Ha pasado muy poco tiempo y ha pasado todo muy rápido. Lo que han conseguido es muy importante para el fútbol femenino y ellas saben que lo han hecho. Ahora queda por ver si el resto de clubes hacen lo mismo y apuestan más y mejor por esta categoría, como ya están haciendo“, sentencia Sonia Bermúdez, que también ha sido parte de este éxito.

A ella se suman otras tanta veteranas que han luchado por esta categoría y otras jóvenes que luchan ahora. Entre todas ellas destaca Alexia Putellas, que tras conseguir el triplete avisó: “Tenemos potencial y entre todas vamos a desarrollarlo”. La centrocampista y segunda capitana del Barça aprovechó el pasado lunes el acto de entrega de la Placa de Oro al Mérito Deportivo para protagonizar una declaración de intenciones en la que se deja claro que esto es sólo el comienzo, en una gran ambición de este equipo por seguir rompiendo moldes y barreras.