As a little girl, she never dreamed of playing at the Camp Nou.
The role models were few, the possibilities fewer.
But tonight, Barcelona’s Alexia Putellas stepped out in front of 91 553 and redrawn the football map.
What she thought was unlikely is now reality.
And it is not a one-time event.
Audience records have replaced each other recently. To say that women’s football has been on the rise for a couple of years is an understatement, it has completely galloped forward in recent months.
There are many examples of something unique and revolutionary coming up.
Hold on, we are seriously heading into a new era.
Several matches for this summer’s highlight in England are already sold out. Tickets for the European Championship final were released to the hungry public and disappeared faster than the wind.
It took 45 minutes.
But what happened tonight between Barcelona and Real Madrid in the Champions League quarter-final at the Camp Nou is still something completely different. It was groundbreaking, mindless, incredible and absolutely, absolutely wonderful.
The sad becomes beautiful
The ladies of Barcelona chose to move in 2019 from a smaller arena right next to Camp Nou to the current home arena Johan Cruyff. The fear of losing the audience was great, it simply would not be as easily accessible anymore.
Three years later, the audience has quadrupled.
Of course, success breeds success. Both on and off the field, but it is probably a clear sign that the interest has been and above all right now is very large. Or rather huge.
Therefore, there is also something divided and sad about the meaning that the world’s perhaps currently leading football player, Alexia Putellas, said earlier this week.
“I did not dream of playing at the Camp Nou, I did not think it was possible”
At the same time, the sad thing now became something incomparably beautiful and fabulous.
The team captain got to lead Europe’s, and the world’s, best club team in front of a roaring and lyrical home crowd. Lined up, she and the rest of the players looked out over the massive cheers, towards the well-filled chairs where she herself sat as a child and did not dare, or rather could dream.
A circle that barely existed from the beginning had a majestic end.
Many ask themselves whether the audience record is a one-off event.
No, they are not. The picture of what the future holds can not be painted more clearly than it has done recently.
This is a new era and a chance for so many more to dream of something so big.
***
The audience was then invited to both a goal party and a couple of real hits. Real Madrid managed, just like in the last meeting, to make the reigning champions tremble on the cuff. Barcelona, on the other hand, showed what a great power they are in women’s football. In the end, there was never any talk of the matter when Barca moved on with a total of 8-3.
