Last year’s defeat against Lyon remains in the memory of all Barça fans. Amandine Henry’s goal in the 6th minute of the match preceded the tragedy that would end up consummating at the Juventus Stadium in Turin (1-3). A blow that the players haven’t forgotten either: “Last year was a tough final, we came out of it very touched”, recognized Clà udia Pina. Lyon was responsible for knocking the Blaugrana down and a year later they say they have learned their lesson: “Last year everyone thought we were winners and we knew from the inside that we had a very difficult game, the Olympique de Lyon has been the king of Europe in recent years”, explained Aitana BonmatÃ. During the Media Day organized by the club, the midfielder warned: “We must not take the game for granted. Both Lyon, last year, and Wolfsburg, this year, are great teams, we will not play a game. We face the match with maximum confidence, but without being confident”.
Mariona Caldentey highlighted the evolution of the team in terms of mentality: “The team reaches the final at a more mature point. I think that in Turin conceding the goal so quickly took us out of the game, now we are a team that knows how to manage these situations better, that doesn’t stress if they don’t have the ball, able to come back with the opposing score… a team mentally better prepared”. Marta Torrejón, one of the most veterans of the team, agreed: “The memory is there, we have played three finals: two defeats and one victory, but mentally we are very good. The season has been very good. The work is practically done, there are only small details left to finish preparing the game, but the team is very motivated”.
If something stands out from Wolfsburg in the Blaugrana squad, it’s their competitive gene: “They’re always there”. The Catalan side acknowledged that the Germans have more experience in finals, but was optimistic: “They have been at the top of Europe for a long time and this experience can work in their favor, but I think we have already shown that we can compete against these teams. We’ve beaten them before and we’ll go to all of them.” Ana-Maria Crnogorcevic knows the German teams very well. The Swedish footballer won a Champions League in the Frankfurt ranks: “German teams always have confidence, until the end. Many times they score you at the last minute and you don’t know how they got to the final. They are teams that are very difficult to play against”, he warned.
For others, this will be the first Champions League they fight for. This is the case of Keira Walsh: “I’m excited. That’s why I came to Barcelona, ​​to play matches like this”, confessed the Englishwoman, who admitted that one of the things that surprised her the most when she arrived at the Catalan club was “the desire to win” this team “I had never experienced it so intensely in any other club”, he said sincerely. European champion with England last summer, Walsh hopes that the experience of playing important matches will help her to face the final, but above all she wants to enjoy it: “We train and live every day to play these matches, you have to enjoy -no”.
