They have achieved the unthinkable. They have achieved the unimaginable. Not only reign in Europe as they did last season. Not only reach the continental final again. No, beyond that, they have become a social phenomenon in Barcelona. They have led the masses to be interested in women's football. They have filled the Camp Nou twice. They have become another Barça team in capital letters. Another team to follow. Another team with which to vibrate. And, of course, another team with which to suffer and with which to cry, as Alexia Putellas did disconsolately on the pitch when the defeat was confirmed. Because the winners show themselves by not settling for anything.
Barça did not close the circle. Barcelona's wonderful journey did not have the ideal ending. The Blaugrana revolution was not enough against the authentic historical dominator, the tremendous Olympique de Lyon, the same one that beat them in 2019, the same one that has been almost insurmountable for seasons and seasons.
The Barça of illusion, of the Ballon d'Or, of signature football, lived a memorable night, not because of the adverse result, but because for the first time it caused more than 10,000 Barcelona fans to travel to a women's football match. The box was packed with authorities, from the president of the Generalitat, Pere Aragonès, to the mayor of Barcelona, Ada Colau, through the Minister of Culture and Sports, Miquel Iceta, and the president of the Spanish Federation, Luis Rubiales, who chatted with Barça's Joan Laporta.
That label of pioneers cannot be taken away from the women trained by Giráldez, but that should not hide a resounding and clear setback.
All that impact and social movement was not enough against a superior, powerful and experienced rival. Only Putellas, who finished the competition as top scorer, with 11 goals, was able to pierce the French goal.
For a moment it seemed that the score was going to be blushing, such was the difference in strength between the two teams. Surely for many fans, the match will mean the discovery of defeat, especially for those boys and girls who have mobilized for a few months to follow a team that broke all records and never lost. But in the end in sport you always lose. It is more common not to win than to do it. And if not, ask the men's Barça.
If after the final three years ago the Barcelona project opted for extreme professionalism and for increasing investment, the challenge now is to continue betting on a team that at the image level has been very profitable for an institution that is not living its moment at all more buoyant. There will be no parade but the journey cannot be in vain.
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