This Sunday, Badalona Women kicks off an exciting season at Athletic Club's ground (12 p.m., Esport3). Marc Ballester's team has not hidden its ambition at any time, and the transfer market –led by the Mercury13 investment fund– has served to bring in eight new faces: Vicky Losada, Sheila Guijarro, Mirari Uria, Izarne Sarasola, Lucía Martínez, Kalu Chianyere, Txell Font, and Lauri Requena, who in the hours before officially debuting with the turquoise and white colors spoke to ARA at the Municipal de Badalona. “The adaptation has been better than I expected. I fit in perfectly with the team on and off the field. I love the city and I live near the beach, which I have always wanted,” she assures.

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.

The women's football league continues to take steps to grow, be sustainable, and "become independent" from other institutions like the Spanish Federation. At a time when England is attracting all of Spain's talent –Alèxia Putellas, Ona Batlle, and Mapi León have been the latest to leave–, Pau Gasol has decided to fully back the F League with an investment of 55 million euros through his company Gasol16 Ventures and the company Fortified Partners. “It was time to take another step, and for that, an economic injection was needed. The moment to invest was now,” says Beatriz Álvarez, president of the competition.

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.

Hansi Flick's Barça now knows the 2025-26 La Liga schedule. The Blaugrana will debut in the competition on August 15, 16, or 17 in Mallorca and close it on May 23 or 24 at Mestalla. Barring any unforeseen events or plot twists, the Primera División's return to Camp Nou will be on the weekend of September 13-14 for Matchday 4, against Valencia, after La Liga finally accepted the Blaugrana's request to play all three matches away from home.