Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas said suffering this year with an injury has been worth it to be able to lift the Champions League trophy on Saturday.
The two-time Ballon d’Or winner came on as a substitute as her side beat Wolfsburg 3-2 in Eindhoven, after falling two goals behind.
Playmaker Putellas, who won the competition with Barcelona in 2021 in its maiden victory, has missed most of the season with a knee issue.
“I’m happy, it’s been a tough year but all the suffering I’ve been through has been worth it for this moment,” she told DAZN.
“It tastes so good, objective complete. This year we had in mind that we wanted to win it, for how last year ended.”
Barcelona was beaten 3-1 by record eight-time winner Lyon last season.
Ewa Pajor struck in the third minute this year, with Alexandra Popp doubling the lead before the break. Barcelona came back with Patri Guijarro’s brace and Fridolina Rolfo fired home the winner.
“Alexia gave me her energy and I did a bit of what she does,” said Guijarro, who was judged player of the match.
“It’s incredible (to win), above all for how we did it, coming from two down in a final is so difficult.”
England defender Lucy Bronze said she had no doubts her team would be able to fire their way back to victory.
“I don’t think we were ever worried about scoring three goals, which is a crazy feat to do, and that’s the talent of this team,” Bronze told DAZN.
The right-back last played in April and had surgery on a knee injury.
“We made it hard for ourselves in the first half,” admitted Bronze whose error conceded the first goal.
“(Although) we created so many chances, I think we could have scored many goals in the first half.
“We knew with our quality we could come back into any game.”
Comments
SHARE