Deportes

Confetti rain and a huge stage to welcome the European champions. And they, the protagonists, the Barça players parading with sunglasses on. Many were hydrating with water bottles in their hands. Others, like Claudia Pina and Ona Batlle, came out with beer. Mapi León, with the number 4 jersey – like the four Champions League titles won -, was one of the most applauded of the afternoon. It was her last celebration since, like Ona Batlle, she will head to the Premier League. And the captains Irene Paredes, Patri Guijarro, and Marta Torrejón each appeared with the trophies of the Super Cup, the Queen’s Cup, and the Women’s League.

The blaugrana fans celebrate with their footballers the fourth European title won this Saturday in Oslo after defeating Lyonnes 4-0 in an incredible final. There will be no parade this time, nor a reception at the City Hall, it is a grand celebration along Avenida Maria Cristina in Barcelona.

In the same place where Joan Laporta delivered the final blow to Barça’s 2021 elections, with his famous banner in front of the Bernabéu alongside the slogan “Looking forward to seeing you again,” Florentino Pérez launched an electoral campaign 22 years later. A message to highlight his legacy, with the names of the seven cities where the white team lifted the Champions League under his leadership, and a message for the future: “Much history to make.” The omnipresent “best president in history” won the elections in 2000 and 2004, left a year later, and returned in 2009 after a period during which Ramón Calderón led the club.

It seems like yesterday when Pep Guardiola began to build the perfect football clock, a work of unparalleled precision that has transformed the game like never before. Yes, he had a rich background as a player and boundless curiosity, driven by his passionate character and the…

The Barça women’s team has many layers. And they are all made of overcoming, effort, and successes. Barça is Aitana excited after the most difficult year of her career, but arriving in time to push the team in the final stretch. It is Cata Coll, without work under the posts for the rest of the year but appearing in Oslo with saves for the history books and leading the celebration in the locker room alongside Pina. It is Ewa Pajor finally breaking her personal curse and proving that, in her case, the sixth time was the charm. The Polish player bowed to the trophy and kissed it emotionally.

Dani Carvajal was born in Leganés and before he had even started puberty, he was already wearing the Real Madrid jersey. He grew up idolizing the Galácticos during the era of Zidanes and Pavones and was the boy chosen to lay the first stone of the Valdebebas sports city alongside Alfredo Di Stéfano, as if the Arrow had already baptized him that day, predicting a glorious future. “A child’s dream, a legend’s triumph,” read a beautiful banner with that photograph. More than two decades later and six Champions League titles won, the captain of one of the best eras in the history of the white club played his last match at the Bernabéu. A protagonist from start to finish on a memorable night for his memory, with electoral drums and inhospitable in football terms.

Florentino Pérez has already made a move in the election campaign. On the same day that the board approved his candidacy for the Real Madrid presidential elections, a gigantic banner appeared on a street in the capital in the purest Joan Laporta style.

Enrique Riquelme appeared this Saturday in Valdebebas, where the headquarters of the Real Madrid electoral board is located, to submit all the necessary documentation to formalize his candidacy for the presidency of the white entity. This was the last step, and the most costly, to meet the requirements written in the statutes, tightened since Florentino Pérez’s arrival at the presidency two decades ago, coincidentally when the last elections were held.

El Barcelona, the new champion since May 10, can now rest. They deserve it. Some can already think about the World Cup and others about their trips. In fact, the blaugrana team left half an hour early for vacation. The season could have ended when the top scorer Lewandowski said goodbye with what he does best: a goal of opportunism and instinct. However, the disconnection was evident and Valencia did not miss the chance to come back with two goals in five minutes.

Girona went to the hell of the Second Division. It was unable once again to win, the only thing it could do to ensure survival, and Elche, with the draw, will remain in the top flight for another season. The dreams of greatness at Montilivi are over, which in three seasons has gone from amazing as the third team in the League, playing the Champions League, to ending up relegated.