We were training. I dribble past a defender and as I brace my leg to kick I hear a crunch and fall to the ground. Then I start repeating 'it can't be', 'I can't believe it'... They lift me up, I take a step and my leg goes. I'm out." 296 days have passed since that fateful July 5. Alexia Putellas was preparing for what was to be her European Championship. He was arriving at the best moment of his career after a season in which he had even improved the numbers for which he won his first Ballon d'Or. Spain had the best generation of footballers in its history and Alexia hoped to guide them to glory, but three days before the debut everything fell apart. The images of a completely dejected Alexia walking out on crutches alongside a serious Mapi León to the hospital, where the worst omens would be confirmed, still linger in everyone's retinas. "I was very sorry. It was as if that Alexia ended and another one had to come out of here, I don't know if it's better or worse. I felt nostalgic to let go of that Alexia", the Blaugrana would confess in her documentary Alexia: Labor Omnia Vincit.
9 months and 22 days have passed in which Alexia Putellas has not stopped working with a single goal in mind: to come back and do it stronger than ever. In the dressing room, her teammates witnessed the midfielder's perseverance in this complicated process. Physically it has been quite a challenge to overcome each and every one of the stages of one of the worst injuries that a footballer can suffer, but surely the most complicated thing has been working on the emotional part. "There are moments of everything. It's a very mental injury in which you have a lot of ups and downs, there are things you don't understand...", he acknowledged just a month ago, when, finally, he started to train partially with the group.
Putellas underwent surgery on July 12, a week after being injured. His evolution since then has been so good that he has been able to keep cutting deadlines. The club's medical services would have preferred to be a little more conservative with her return, but in the end the footballer's feelings prevailed, which were very good.
It has not been an easy path, but she has always been accompanied by her teammates and protected by the club. The shielding around the 11 of FC Barcelona has been total, especially in these last weeks before their return to the field. At the club, no one wanted to give hints about whether she would have the green light before today's match at the Camp Nou and they have tried to isolate the footballer from the media noise. "She is an intelligent aunt and she already knew what would happen in this part of her recovery, she is aware of it. Both the club and us are helping him. Obviously, anything that feels less pressure, the better for her, because it's not an easy injury", warned Patri Guijarro this week.
296 days have passed since the last time the FC Barcelona captain set foot on a pitch. 9 months and 22 days in which he had to rebuild physically and mentally. He will need time to recover to the level at which he was playing, but his return is a morale boost for the team and comes at the most decisive moment of the season, when they are playing to reach their fourth European final - the third in a row -. Therefore, it will be necessary to comply against Chelsea first. After the 0-1 at Stamford Bridge "nothing has been done", a Jonatan Giráldez warned yesterday that he will not be able to count on Lucy Bronze, who is injured. The slogan in the dressing room was clear: "If we think that the result of the first leg helps us qualify, we would be wrong. We have to give our best version".
With more than 65,000 tickets sold - before the announcement of Putellas' discharge - the Camp Nou is expected to be a party on the last day it will open its doors to the women's team, before moving provisionally to Montjuïc. The team will arrive at the stadium by coach (5 p.m., access 7), just as it did last year against Real Madrid and Wolfsburg, the last game the Barcelona captain played at Camp Nou. A luxurious stage to reappear, even if it is testimonially, and (hopefully) celebrate the ticket to Eindhoven.
