Clara Serrajordi: "My friends go out partying and take less care of themselves, but I have chosen this life"

BarcelonaClara Serrajordi (Llinars del Vallès, 2007) enters the Johan Cruyff stadium with a new hairstyle. “If we had won the Champions League, I would have to get braids”. Barça became European champions in Oslo and the Catalan midfielder was a starter in the final against Olympique Lyonnais at just 18 years old. With the same smile as when she debuted a year ago on this very stage, Serrajordi attends to ARA relaxed after a week full of emotions –celebration of the fourth Women's Champions League and the farewell of Alexia Putellas– and confesses another passion: chess. “When I was little, I used to compete in championships.”

How has this week been after winning the Champions League?

— Very special. It has been a dream for us and we have celebrated it well.

A week that has also been a roller coaster of emotions. 

— Yes, with ups and downs, but in the end we celebrated it as it should be and also said goodbye to the players as they deserved.

At 18 years old you finish your first season with the first team. How do you take that in?

— For me it has been a dream, and I have been fulfilling almost all of them this season. It is a pleasure for me to play with all of my teammates, they have made everything very easy for me. And now, to keep moving forward. If you had told me a year ago, I wouldn't have believed it. 

When did you find out you would be a starter in the Champions League final?

— Just at the moment when the alignment was said.

Didn't you have any intuition before?

— No.

Did you expect it or was it a surprise?

— I could have expected it, but it was also a bit of a surprise. I was prepared for whatever role I had, and in the end it was playing. Very happy. 

Did you have time to notify the family?

— No, I don't warn anyone. I have a habit of, whether it makes the headlines or not, not telling anyone anything.

What is the secret to being a starter in a Champions League final and not showing nerves?

— Working day after day, and if you are given the opportunity, seize it. I was nervous, but when you go out to play, all the nerves go away. Play as always, nothing had to be changed because during the season it had already gone well and that's what we did. If I didn't seem nervous, better.

How did you experience the night before the match? Did you think about it a lot, the final?

— When I thought about the game during the week I would get nervous, but I tried to do things and distract myself so as not to think about it. Before the game I was a little more nervous, but when you get on the field to warm up you try to enjoy it as much as possible.

Do you have any pre-game routines?

— Yes, I have my routine, I have many quirks. For example, an hour before the meal at hand I shower, tie my hair, get ready and put on my clothes. Always the same.

Are you superstitious? 

— Yes, because that way I'm focused on what matters. I always play with the same top, with the same underwear, I enter with my left foot…

They are many.

— Yes, and many more that come out on their own.

And do you always have to do them all? 

— I do it to maintain concentration. If one day I don't do some, I do others.

How do you value the trust Pere has had this year?

— Very grateful. This trust has also been transmitted to me, it has made me able to perform better. And I am very grateful for all the opportunities.

A year ago nobody knew you on the street, now they stop you and ask for photos?

— They don't ask me for many photos, I can go out normally. When I go out near La Masia there are more fans, but when I go around Barcelona they don't usually stop me much.

Being an elite athlete means you can't have the same life as an anonymous 18-year-old. Are you aware that you have to make these sacrifices?

— Yes. We know that if we play football, if people know us, we have to be more careful. I try to live as normally as possible and do everything as if I were a normal person, as if nobody knew me.

Regarding the requirement, do you see that you have to lead a very different life from anyone your age?

— Yes. My friends go out partying and take a little less care of themselves. But in the end, it's what I've chosen. I like the life I've chosen; to play and dedicate myself to football. I'm happy.

Your life has changed completely in a year. What would you say to Clara from a year ago?

— Keep working, all that you have worked for will bear fruit. In the end, everything happens for a reason.

What is the best learning you have had this year?

— There have been many, but what I have always applied is to work day after day, focus on the day-to-day and enjoy everything because nobody knows what will happen in a month's time. 

How do your family and friends assimilate all this life change you've had?

— They're a little surprised, but they don't pass it on to me because I don't like being told. I want to live my normal life, and they know it. I think they talk about it more among themselves, but I've told them not to tell me. I want normality.

Can you say what has been the best moment of the season?

— There have been many. Perhaps winning the Champions League, which is very big for me. If they had told me a year ago, I wouldn't have believed it. It's the most special moment.

And have you had a difficult one?

— Very complicated, no. I haven't had a moment where I've really had a bad time. This season has been quite up and down.

Do you analyze and watch matches after playing or focus on the next ones? 

— Yes, I like to know what I did well and what I did wrong. I don't look at all of them, but I do like to know how I played and what I can improve.

You have spoken about family, but, within the locker room, is there any teammate who has been important to you?

— Aïcha Camara, above all. We've gone everywhere together, and we've been together every moment, in the good and the bad. She has been the most important person.

We always see you very shy in the mixed zone, but the other day we saw you doing an Instagram live with Alexia and starting a chant with the fans.

— I am very shy, but if they insist...

Who insisted on you?

— Alexia started “Serra, Serra” and then I couldn’t say no…

You have formed a great friendship with Alexia Putellas and Patri Guijarro.

— They have been very important to me this year too, they have made me grow a lot, they have helped me a lot both on and off the field and it has been an honor. They are role models you have had since you were little, and to be able to play with them and for them to make everything easier for you, to help you... They are great people and I am very grateful to both of them.

You are a family.

— Totally. From the outside you don't see it like that at all and you think that perhaps the hardest thing is to be with the best in the world and not be able to make friends, but quite the opposite. You arrive in the locker room, they welcome you in the best way, they help you with everything they can.

Do you remember the first days in the locker room?

— You are quiet. I am very much a joker, but I was more shy with Aïcha. In the end, we let ourselves go and we have been very good teammates, very good friends. We can make plans outside the locker room, outside of football.

You grew up with female role models like Patri or Alexia, but they had male role models. 

— We who are coming up now are fortunate to have these female role models who have opened the way for us and made everything much easier. Thanks to their fight, women's football is growing a lot. It will be easier and easier for us thanks to them.

What does Alexia mean to you?

— She has been like a sister and it is very special to play with your idol and for her to make everything so easy for you. I would never have imagined it, but it has been an honor to enjoy her for a year in the locker room. I would have liked to have arrived earlier, but I think she has done everything she had to do at Barça and has opened many doors for us. She has been a role model for everyone.

When did he tell you he was leaving?

— He was saying it. For us she is super important and she is the captain, but we know that she has had a very long career and that it was the perfect moment to end it. I hope everything goes very well for her.

And now you take over, as people say. 

— No, the substitution, impossible. We will try to continue playing as we know, the whole team, and I'm sure it will work well.

Do you feel a little pressure, being the new Alexia?

— No. A new Alexia for me is impossible. There will be no one like her. It's clear, and I'm not putting that pressure on myself because I won't be.

Will you be Clara Serrajordi?

— Yes. It's impossible to be like her. She's a great player, a great captain, I think she's everything…

Which advice do you keep?

— Alexia has given me very good advice. That I should enjoy myself, that I will have good and bad moments, but that I must learn from all of them.

Now you live at La Masia, but at the beginning it was not like this.

— When I was younger, I used to study in the mornings and when I left school, I would come straight to train. Afterwards, I would train in the mornings and come by train, and later I studied at La Masia until they told me I could sleep there. I was very grateful because when I was older, I did see that it was a hassle. I left at six in the morning and arrived home at ten at night.

What is life like at La Masia? 

— More girls are entering each time. It helps you perform better because you are more rested and can sleep more.

But now you will have to become independent.

— Yes, I've thought about it more, I'll live alone, to begin with.

Are you running any races?

— Yes, I practice psychology. At La Masia, many are psychologists, and this way I have more knowledge.

What do you like most about football?

— Football in general. When I enter the field, I isolate myself from all my thoughts and enjoy playing.

And from Barça, as a club, what do you like the most?

— Choosing one thing is difficult, but the idea of the game it has and the idea also of training players.