Two matches, two routs. Barça does not forgive on the Sevilla field and continues with a firm step in this start of the Liga F thanks to the goals from Esmee Brugts, Clàudia Pina, Marta Torrejón, and Vicky López (0-4). Graham Hansen was once again the protagonist with two assists in a special match for Pere Romeu. 727 days after sitting on the bench for the first time as head coach of Barça –with a 0-3 victory on the field of Deportivo de la Coruña–, the Catalan coach managed his 100th match at the helm of the blue and garnet team. Throughout these two years, Romeu has lived very sweet moments –such as the triumph in Oslo against his former coaching staff colleague, Jonatan Giráldez, to lift the fifth Champions League of the season– and more bitter moments –such as the defeat a year earlier in Lisbon in the Champions League final against Arsenal.

Barça now knows its first six opponents on its path to the Warsaw final, scheduled for the last weekend of May (28th, 29th, or 30th, with the specific day yet to be determined). After touching the sky in Oslo on Saturday, May 23rd, the 'blaugranes' are once again embarking on an exciting journey with the goal of lifting the fifth Champions League in the club's history.

It is always surprising when a footballer announces their retirement at 29. A player's professional life can extend to around 40 years, but Andrea Falcón's (Arucas, 1997) knee said enough at 28. “No matter how much I wanted to continue, you are not objective. The doctors told me that if I wanted to be able to walk, go up or down stairs, I had to make this decision. If I continued playing football, I would make my life impossible,” she confesses in a phone call with ARA.

Injuries are the main headache for all football coaches. Some are unpredictable: a bad move, a fall... situations difficult to control. Others, especially muscular ones, can be prevented if several variables are taken into account, such as accumulated distance covered or intensity. In this regard, the Barça club has been working for five years on the idea of designing a model that allows for anticipating injuries in women's football.

New season, new challenges, and new players, but the same ambition and the same result. Barça beat Costa Adeje Tenerife and already have the first three points of the season in Liga F (5-0). There are traditions that, even as the years pass and the squad changes, are never lost. Graham Hansen opened the scoring with a pass from Claudia Pina, who also joined the goal-scoring party. Ewa Pajor, Van Asten, and Irene Paredes completed the rout.

There was a time when Barça women's team competed in the Second Division or fought to stay in the First. Years when the great women's football team in Catalonia wore white and blue – Espanyol – and when the stars were not from Barça. Maribel Domínguez, known as Marigol, was Barça's first major international signing. The footballer, born in Mexico City in 1978, arrived in mid-2004-05 season as one of the best players in the world.

The first time I spoke to Carlota Planas on the phone, I thought I heard a baby crying in the background. I didn't say anything. Ten minutes later, however, I couldn't help but ask her if it was a baby I was hearing. She quickly said yes, laughed, and we continued talking about football. Six months later, sitting in front of me, she explained that she renewed Claudia Pina's contract when she was eight months pregnant. Cata Coll's, a month before.

The firm commitment to women's football in Spain is one of the great challenges in the coming years. The World Cup won by the Spanish team in 2023 seemed like it would boost women's sport, but over the years it has all remained a utopia. Attendance at stadiums was the first wake-up call, with a drop of almost 20% in the last season. Now, television rights —which could not be awarded in the first round due to a lack of offers— have once again highlighted the problems the competition is facing.

Barça did not fail. Pere Romeu's team presented themselves to their fans with another great match led by Patri Guijarro – on and off the field – and with goals from Esmee Brugts, Claudia Pina, and Graham Hansen that served to overcome Brighton and win a new Joan Gamper Trophy (3-1). The performance of the new Barça goalkeeper, Tyler McCamey, also stood out, as she received the crowd's ovation and could already hear her new chant.

More than 9,000 kilometers from Barcelona, Bruna Vilamala (Borgonyà, 2002) is looking to make a place for herself in one of Mexico's top teams, Club Amèrica. The Catalan forward was transferred last summer after a season on loan at English side Brighton. “It’s a project that attracts me because it reminds me a lot of Barça a few years ago. It’s very nice when you start to grow, to win…, and here things are being done very well. They bet a lot on us, they give us everything we need, and right now, I think Amèrica is already the best team in Mexico,” explains Bruna after winning the treble (Clausura, Copa de Campeones de la Concacaf, and Mexican League Championship Cup) with the American team.

Irene Paredes has started her sixth season at Barça. She arrived in the summer of 2021 from PSG as an already consolidated center-back in elite football and, since then, has not stopped growing. She has been immovable, both for Jonatan Giráldez and for Pere Romeu, and together with Mapi León she has formed one of the best center-back pairings. “A moment comes when cycles end and you look for other challenges, it's the law of life. Barça will continue and the identity of this team will not be lost,” Paredes reflected after playing the last match of last season at the Johan Cruyff stadium, where Alèxia Putellas, Ona Batlle and Mapi León said goodbye.

Barça women already have their new great star. The Blaugrana team surpasses – for the first time in its history – the barrier of one million euros and incorporates the Brazilian attacker Kerolin Nicoli (1999), who arrives from Manchester City and signs for four seasons. After the departures of Alexia Putellas, Ona Batlle, Mapi León and Salma Paralluelo, it was necessary to make a statement to show that the reigning European champion wanted to aspire to all titles again. This has arrived with a name unknown to many, but which in recent weeks has been gaining strength. The operation is now official.

Cata Coll is the goalkeeper for Barça women's team. After a year on loan at Sevilla, the Balearic footballer knew how to wait for her moment until she became the undisputed starter – at Barça and for the Spanish national team. Hard work, consistency, and patience paid off for Cata Coll, considered one of the best goalkeepers of today. This, however, is a very delicate area in football and the blaugrana club has worked during the summer to strengthen the position.

August 30. This is the date marked in red on Aitana Bonmatí's calendar. The Barça footballer is working against the clock to arrive in the best possible conditions for the start of the new season for Barça women's team. On the weekend of August 29 and 30, Pere Romeu's team will debut in the Women's League in a match against Costa Adeje Tenerife at the Johan Cruyff stadium. With just over a month to go until the premiere, this Monday the Blaugranas began their pre-season with all available first-team players.

Vicky Losada (Terrassa, 1991) returns to Spain. And she will do so with Badalona Women. The former Barça captain arrives on loan from Bristol City thanks to Mercury13, an investment fund that owns both the English and Badalona clubs. “After five years away from home, I was really missing being able to play the football that is played here. Also my family. I'm returning to a place where I know I'll be very happy,” she confides to ARA.

The women's football transfer market is undergoing a change. Used to signing free agents —that's how Graham Hansen, Ona Batlle, and Lucy Bronze arrived at Barça—, in recent summers all transfer records have been broken. The professionalization of clubs and leagues opens up a new landscape where investment is more necessary than ever to continue competing in Europe. The possibility of signing big stars at zero cost, as happened a summer ago with Laia Aleixandri, is a thing of the past. Now, you have to dig deep into your pockets.

Amidst celebrations of Spaniards, Norwegians, and Argentinians, Alexia Putellas has once again taken center stage. The former Barça player has been presented in New York as the new player for London City Lionesses. The player from Mollet, who on June 30th closed a fourteen-year chapter at Barça, signs for the team owned by Michele Kang and will become part of the Kynisca group, an organization that also owns Olympique de Lyon. “The future does not belong to those who wait, it belongs to those who want to build, to those who want to see something others cannot, to those who believe before everyone else. I am excited to start this new chapter with London City Lionesses,” assured Alexia, who will continue to wear the number eleven jersey.

Alexia Putellas will play next season at Michele Kang's magnate London City. The ex-Barça player —whose contract ends next June 30— will try her luck in the English league after fourteen seasons wearing the Barça jersey. There she will meet again with Jana Fernández, Lucía Corrales, María Pérez and Mapi León, who will also make the same journey as Alexia this summer.

The announcement of Pau Gasol's investment proposal in the women's football league, amounting to approximately 55 million euros, put everyone in the sector on alert. With the aim of "professionalizing the commercial model and accelerating internationalization," the former Barcelona player wants to carry out the largest private investment in this competition through the company Gasol16 Ventures and together with other investors. However, all of this will have to be approved by the league's clubs at an extraordinary assembly that will take place on Monday, June 29.

The future of Salma Paralluelo is the big issue this summer at Barça. The Aragonese winger is very happy at the Catalan club, but she has strong offers from abroad, where the economic proposals are higher than those offered by the Blaugrana entity. As ARA has been able to find out, Olympique de Lyon, London City, Arsenal and PSG have shown interest in the footballer, whose contract ends on June 30 and who would arrive as a free agent.