Alexia Putellas put the final touch on her last day as a blaugrana at the Johan Cruyff. In the victory (2-1) against Real Sociedad The Johan chanted for the last time “there is only one queen, Alexia Putellas” in a match marked by other farewells that were overshadowed by that of the captain. Mapi León, Ona Batlle, and Marta Torrejón also played their last match at the Johan Cruyff.
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Alexia was the first to jump onto the field, walking ahead of her teammates through the corridor that Real Sociedad made for them as champions. The captain offered the fans the Champions League won in Oslo after a display against OL Lyonnes, the last trophy she will lift as captain of this team.
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All eyes were on the farewell of the ‘queen’, but she will not be the only one who will not wear blaugrana next season. The significance of the departure of the eternal blaugrana captain overshadowed departures of no small importance such as those of Mapi León and Ona Batlle. Two undisputed starters who played their last match with Barça against Real and who this summer will head to the English league, the Aragonese to London City and the one from Maresme to Arsenal. Another historic blaugrana, Marta Torrejón, will also leave the club after 13 seasons. All of them were starters in the last league match at the Johan Cruyff and were substituted in the second half. The first was Ona Batlle, in the 58th minute, with the stadium standing and chanting her name while her teammates made an honor corridor for her in a tacit announcement of her departure, which now only lacks the official farewell in the coming hours.
At 66 minutes, the story repeated with Mapi León, who was also bid farewell by her teammates in the center of the field. The Aragonese central defender looked up one last time and with her hand on her heart said goodbye to the fans in tears.
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The highlight came at 80 minutes when Alexia Putellas left the field. With the Johan Cruyff fully engaged, calling out to their captain, Alexia handed the captain’s armband to Marta Torrejón, gave a final bow to the fans, and walked through the corridor formed by the Barça and Real Sociedad players until she met Patri Guijarro, who was waiting for her on the sideline, unable to hold back tears. “It’s never a good time to say goodbye to you,” she had told her in the morning during her tribute: “I will miss you a lot.” Alexia, stoic, greeted all her teammates and disappeared onto the bench without shedding a tear in her last minutes as a Barça player.
The Johan lowered the curtain and when it opens again, nothing will be the same. Although, as the banner displayed in the stands read: “Legends never leave.”
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