"I have emptied myself, but the team will continue winning"

BarcelonaIt's over. Alexia Putellas has said goodbye to Barça after 14 seasons at the blaugrana club. In an unbeatable setting –at the Camp Nou–, with the 38 titles and two Ballon d'Or awards she has won throughout her time in Barcelona, the captain has put an end to a “perfect story”, as she described in her emotional farewell video on Instagram.

“There is no perfect moment to leave. There are many factors in making this decision, the most important of my life. The demand I have on myself and the emotional connection I have with Barça meant that anything that was to continue could blur my path at Barça. Winning the fourth Champions League in Oslo was the perfect moment”, Alexia began explaining. “Yesterday [Tuesday] I felt a huge emptiness, but today [Wednesday] I am full of love”.

“The team will continue to win. Barça is the best thing that has ever happened to me in my life. I know that wherever I go, which I don't know yet and I have a summer ahead of me to make the decision, I won't have this fanbase, teammates, coaching staff, stadium… This is irreplaceable”, remarked the captain, who announced the creation of an academy together with the Barça Foundation.

The future at Barça will continue through the new generations. “We [my generation] have moved the world, but they [the future] will eat it up”. One of the players who must guide the future is Vicky López. “She has been much more than a captain”, said her sister, in a dialogue they both had on the Camp Nou pitch.

Alexia has also remembered Pere Romeu, whom she has defined as “the best coach this club can have”, and has thanked everyone who has been part of this journey: “I have emptied myself. I love you very much for everything you have brought me as a player”.

“In debt” to Xavi Llorens

The captain was moved when she remembered her beginnings in Barça's first team in 2012 under Xavi Llorens, who signed her from Levante just after her father's death. "He told me I would be an emblem for the club when we played at the Ciutat Esportiva as a family," recalled Alexia, who confessed that she will always be "indebted" to her first coach at the Blaugrana entity.

Presented by Marta Torné, the event was attended by the entire squad and technical staff of the first women's team, the board of directors, Alexia's family members, and special guests such as former Barça captain Carles Puyol or her first coach at Barça, Xavi Llorens. Other personalities such as Melanie Serrano, Vicky Losada, Virginia Torrecilla, Raphinha, Pedri, Sergio Busquets, Andrés Iniesta, Hristo Stòitxkov or Estopa wanted to send a message to the blaugrana through a video.