IMAGINE. (wsl)

𝘂𝗻𝗲𝘅𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗲𝗱 - 𝗺.𝗹𝗲𝗼𝗻

𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘦: 𝘴𝘮𝘶𝘵, 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴

*𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘺 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘮𝘶𝘵! 𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘧 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘥*
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"sooo, are you excited about being in the starting lineup?"

alexia bumps my shoulder with her own, grinning down at me. i look down with a blush and shy smile, it was first time starting for barcelona since i had transferred here at the start of the season.

"ah, yes? just nervous about being chosen over others like mapi or irene."

alexia laughed, knowing full well about the in-club rivalry between me and maria. both of us being defenders, me being the newcomer, she didn't like it much when i was 'chosen' for things over her. of course it never got nasty or vicious to the point of bullying, but i would not label us as friends.

"there's a reason jona chose you. you're just as good a player as mapi. i'd even go as far to say you're better. don't tell mapi i said that."

she whispered the last part and i giggled at her words. ale had always been my biggest supporter when i moved, she knew me since the U17's spanish national team.

we had reached the locker room after training, walking in to join the rest of the girls in changing. my cubby was, of course, directly next to maria's but that didn't bother me much anymore. i whipped off my training shirt, leaving me in my shorts and sports bra, before grabbing my bag. i could feel maria's eyes on me, daring to catch her gaze as she unabashedly looked at my abdominal muscles tensing.

i went to the showers to freshen up before heading home, our next game being at our home stadium against real madrid.

——
match day was here, it was t-2 hours until kickoff and the team was on the pitch doing pre match inspection.

we'd go back to the locker room afterwards, so jona could give his match day speech. i was as jittery as ever, being put in the starting eleven. alexia assured me i'd do great, attempting to calm my nerves.

less than an hour until kickoff now, and we were warming up on the pitch. the starting eleven and the subs were in separate groups, so me and ale were together and the others; mapi, were in a different area.

it felt like time was moving too fast because suddenly we were all lining up in the tunnel to walk out. my body worked like clockwork, a routine that was followed every time. the team photo took a split second and we all jogged off to get into position.

it was me, ona and marta defending , ale in her usual spot as a midfielder and cata in goal for a change.

i was semi worried about this game against real madrid, we had beaten them before, but not while i was at the club. once everyone was on the pitch and ready everything faded away and i was focused on the play.

——
halftime and it was 3-0 to barca.

i was over the moon at the results so far, it hadn't been too much work for me in terms of defending but i took all the corner kicks and the free kick that was awarded after ale was taken out by one of the defenders from madrid. that kick didn't go in directly but oshoala got a head to it to score a goal.

we were back out on the pitch in no time and i was buzzing to go again.

this time there was another penalty kick and i lined up for it. three steps back, i got ready and ran forward, booting the ball towards the net. miraculously it curved perfectly and went directly into the top left corner of the goal. i raised my arms in celebration and all my teammates on the pitch ran towards me to hug.