The notable absentee from the Lisbon final is learning Catalan and to whom Barça wants to dedicate the title.

Special Envoy to Lisbon"I have a knot in my stomach thinking that I can't play in the Champions League final," Francisca explained. Kika Nazareth in an interview in the Portuguese media Mayos SoccerThe young Barça player couldn't hold back her tears during the team's training session at the José Alvalade stadium, where they will play the final against Arsenal this Saturday (6 p.m., TV3). Kika, born in Lisbon and the star of Portuguese women's football, will be the notable absentee. In her first season in Barcelona, ​​after Barça signed her from Benfica for a fee close to half a million euros, she was injured when she was feeling her best. It was in March, during the Clásico against Real Madrid. She had to undergo surgery for a rupture of the internal lateral ligament in her left ankle. It was her season.

It's not common to see Kika cry. Quite the opposite. Although she has only been wearing the Blaugrana jersey for a few months, she has won favor in the locker room and is one of the most beloved players. In the last match at the Johan Cruyff Stadium, during the Liga F match, Alexia joined the party in the Portuguese style: "Kika, unfortunately, many of us have been in your situation. I want you to know that we'll go to your house and make you proud of your team," said the captain. "If she's been so well received in the locker room, it's because she's who she is: she's authentic, she brings a lot of joy, freshness... Plus, she's at an age [22] where she's able to bring together a lot of teammates, to make similar plans and everything," sources from the Barça team explained to ARA. Furthermore, as soon as she arrived at Barça, Kika said she would learn Catalan.

A Portuguese international, the forward dreamed of playing in her first Champions League final. And, what's more, doing it in Lisbon, the city where she grew up. "I love Barcelona, ​​​​but there's nothing like Lisbon. I lived with my mother, my father, and my family... I'm very Portuguese. I like staying at home, eating Portuguese food, fighting with my sister... In Portugal, I ate at home a lot, in Barcelona I go out more," Kika explained in a recent statement. The Barça forward is in love with her native Lisbon and her country: "What do I miss about Portugal? Anywhere (Cascais, Guincho, the beach...), everything is incredible. Also the sunsets in Portugal... they are beautiful."

Her first steps with CF Os Torpedos de Lisboa

Although Kika joined Benfica's youth system as a teenager, her first steps were playing futsal at a humble, small club in the São Domingos de Benfica neighborhood. It was CF Os Torpedos, founded in 1985 by a group of neighborhood friends, including Carlos Alves, who manages and looks after ARA at its facilities in a residential area far from Lisbon's bustling center. "It's a pioneering club in 5-a-side football and participated in the first official championship of this sport held in Lisbon. Currently, our goal is to give local boys and girls the opportunity to play futsal," explains Alves. The shirt Kika wore, with the number 9, hangs in the club's main hall. "It represents the ultimate exponent of the club's sporting performance and is also a reference for our way of understanding football: being happy doing what you love with your friends."

André Sanches was Kika's first coach when she was eight years old. It was a mixed-gender team, but she was the only girl. "She was one of the smallest and most fragile in the group, but she wasn't afraid to play every game, every ball, with intensity and strength. 'This is Kika's team,' I once felt in some gymnasiums," Sanches recalls. "Kika loves the game; you can see the enjoyment and fun she has when she plays. She also loves the clubs she's played for. Os Torpedos, because it's where she started and where she has many friends, like Guilherme, Vasco, João Paulo, and Carlos; Benfica, because of her father, who made her a fan of this club as a child. For her first coach, Kika's career despite her youth is no coincidence: "You could tell Kika's passion for football would make her stand out." Her mother, who worried about whether she would get hurt playing football, her father and sister proudly follow her progress. She won't be able to make the final in Lisbon, but more will surely come.