A dream that at rest seemed impossible. But it only seemed so. “I have told them that they could. I have reminded them of what they had done to get here. That they deserved to win. I am very proud of all of them, ”said an emotional Jonatan Giráldez who has undoubtedly experienced one of the most intense weeks of his life. The 31-year-old Galician coach was the father a week ago of his first child, Cíes. Neither the little boy nor his wife missed the appointment in Eindhoven to see how the sky was dyed in azulgrana. Giráldez could not help crying and hugging his wife and his little one. “I will tell him that he was here. With his mother. It is the happiest week of my life. This Champions League explains why we are here”, said the coach. Euphoric. Rapt. Going through the emotion, and thanks to his players. Just like the 10,000 Barcelona fans who came to the city from the Netherlands. Some traveled for 20 hours by bus. Others by car. Many by plane. All trusting in a team that in the face of adversity no longer gives up. It grows.
Rosalía's Despechá, one of the songs that plays the most in the Barcelona dressing room, gave way to Queen's We are The Champions. It was time for Alexia. “I have suffered on the bench like the rest. But I know that it is a mature team. I knew we could”, slipped the captain. The best in the world. The one who raised the glass to the sky of Eindhoven. A gesture with which the blaugrana manage to remove three hundred and seventy-eight days later a thorn that had been stuck in the bottom of their hearts after losing in Turin against Olympique de Lyon. “The first Göteborg final, the one we won, we couldn't live with them due to the pandemic. And a lot of people came to the final last year and we couldn't win. We owed it to them”, recalled Patri Guijarro, leader of the comeback.
The author of the two goals that came in less than two minutes and that made Barcelona's aspirations grow. Guijarro spoke without letting go of his Blaugrana flag while the Brazilian Geyse wore her braids of the same color. Grateful. Comforted. Like the rest. “At half-time we looked at each other. We have told ourselves that we could. We owed it to the fans, to the family and to us”, stressed Aitana Bonmatí who wanted to celebrate the title with a shirt that read Welcome Refugees. "I am a UNHCR ambassador and when feats like this are achieved, you have to take the opportunity to send a message," said the always supportive 14th Barcelona player who left the stadium with one of the Barça shields under her arm as a souvenir.
Meanwhile, Sweet Caroline was playing. In honor of Graham Hansen, the Norwegian striker always forgotten when it comes to doling out individual awards. "The secret is that we have all put our grain of sand to get here," Alexia remarked. In the box, the president of the RFEF, Luis Rubiales, and the coach Jorge Vilda, who will give the pre-list on June 12 and the final call-up for the World Cup on June 30, with the great unknown of whether he will leave out the internationals who return to rule Europe.
