The Estadi Johan Cruyff has heard a lot of captain’s speeches over the past five years, and nearly all were delivered by Alexia Putellas. On Friday evening, in front of an announced 3,904 supporters, Patri Guijarro, captain of the best team in the world for the first time, took the microphone.
Her first address came before the fifth edition of the women’s Joan Gamper Trophy, and she did not spend it easing herself in. “We are coming off a season with the quadruple and we are ready to compete for five titles,” the Mallorcan midfielder said, in quotes reported by Mundo Deportivo’s Joan Poqui.
Twenty minutes later her head coach said exactly the same thing.
Patri Guijarro Captain Speech in Full
Guijarro’s promotion was reported on Thursday by Mundo Deportivo, as we covered in our piece on the Femeni captaincy reshuffle. Friday was the first time the club put her in front of the crowd in the role, and the tone was gratitude first.
“I want to thank you for all the support you give us at the Johan, at the Spotify Camp Nou and at every stadium we go to,” she said. “You are the best supporters we could have.”
Then came the part that will be quoted back to her in May. “We are coming off a season with the quadruple and a lot of emotion. Now it is a new season, with the staff, the new signings, the players from the B team, led by the boss, Pere Romeu. We are ready to compete for five titles and to give you plenty to celebrate.”
On the captaincy itself she was straightforward rather than sentimental: “I take on a new role, as you know, as the new captain, and I take on the responsibility of being captain of the best team in the world with real excitement.” She closed by thanking president Joan Laporta, board member Xavi Puig and the sporting department led by Marc Vives.
Romeu backs the number
Pere Romeu, opening his own season with a speech at the Johan, chose not to soften his captain’s target. “This year we are going for the five titles, as Patri said,” the head coach declared, per Mundo Deportivo.
Most of his address was spent on the people around the target. He welcomed the new arrivals by name – “Kerolin, Renee, Tyler, Martina… welcome to the best team in the world” – and promised the dressing room would make them feel at home. He reserved a longer passage for the injured, and for Laia Aleixandri in particular: “She is the player with the longest lay-off. We have missed you, and I am confident you will be back with us soon.”
He also made a point of crediting La Masia. “Barca’s project has always been about bringing in talent, but last season a lot of players from the reserves established themselves and we had a lot of success because of their energy. This season will be the same.” And, inevitably, he turned to the stands: “If I say we are the best team in the world it is because we have the best supporters in the world. I have no doubt about that.”
The football, so far
The match that followed was Barca’s first outing in front of their own supporters since the quadruple. Mundo Deportivo’s live coverage had the Blaugrana 3-1 up at half-time and still 3-1 ahead approaching the closing stages, with Claudia Pina curling in from the left edge of the box and Caroline Graham Hansen adding a third with a finish across the Brighton goalkeeper. Cata Coll had earlier turned away a chipped effort from Fran Kirby.
The final score had not been confirmed at the time of writing, so treat the scoreline as in-play rather than official. What was clear was the shape of the evening: heavy pressing, five first-half corners, Guijarro and Graham Hansen the standouts, and a Brighton side with a genuine threat on the counter.
None of which is the point of a Gamper night. The point was the woman with the microphone, and the number she chose to say out loud in her first minute in the job.
