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Really calling upon your futfem memory here hahaha, but from all the games you have watched over the past decade and more:

What do you think are some of Alexia’s best match performances that she has ever played?

okay, a few examples come to mind:

the super iconic copa de la reina final goal scored by alexia back in 2013. it's what put her on the map. i did not watch this live (as i was more casual viewer and focused on the men's team at the time), but i saw the highlights and then ended up watching it after the fact.

2. in 2018, barça thrashed rayo vallecano at the mini-estadi and alexia scored 4 goals

3. in spring 2021 (2020-21 season), she scored a "perfect" hat trick by scoring with her left foot, right foot, and header. iirc it was also against valencia.

4. in september 2021 (2021-22 season), she scored a hat trick against valencia within 5 minutes. it was wild and impressive.

5. the iconic camp nou match against wolfsburg in 2022. she was on top of the world.

didalexiabreakupwitholgaisback

https://x.com/i/status/2060711838766002633

No sé si has visto el segundo vídeo, es que es imposible no quererla 😭😂

being subbed off in the last champions final she will ever play, and she says to lawrence 'qué pasa?' so chill and nonchalant lol

didalexiabreakupwitholgaisback

and *finally*, we hear from maria tikas about the decision making process and chronology that happened months and months ago and acknowledging that the timing overshadowed the season:

but the decision-making process began long before that. in particular, last summer. In 2024, after two difficult seasons marred by injury, alexia signed a new contract with barça in a very different context to the current one. the captain was still regaining her form, and that renewal was inevitably influenced by the uncertainty surrounding her fitness and performance at the time, in a situation that no longer reflected alexia’s true stature on and off the pitch. the deal included an easily exercisable one-year option, designed precisely to allow both parties to reassess the situation at a later date.

at the end of the transfer window last summer, with alexia back to her best, PSG made her a very substantial offer and were even prepared to pay her release clause. however, following several discussions with barça, the captain decided to stay. she did so without asking for anything in return, prioritising finishing the season in barcelona and postponing any final decision on her future. it was then that the club and the player agreed that, should the time come when alexia felt her time in barcelona had come to an end, the club would facilitate her departure. although that +1 year was practically a done deal, both parties understood that there would be no obstacles if the captain decided to bring her blaugrana spell to a close.

and the season began with a very clear thought in the captain’s mind: it could be her last. not just for personal reasons, but also because of the team’s current situation. alexia has never wanted to stand in the way of the new generation and understood that barça was already undergoing a natural transition. even so, she has responded with one of the best seasons of her recent career: decisive in the big games, the team’s footballing and emotional leader, and once again a leading contender for the ballon d’or.

she has also experienced moments that shook her to the core. the first came at the spotify camp nou, in the quarter-finals against madrid, on the day of the tribute marking her 500th appearance for barça. it was a night filled with emotion, ovations and symbolism. the second, even more revealing, came weeks later against bayern, also at the camp nou. when she was substituted in the semi-finals, alexia couldn’t hold back her tears. that was when she began to seriously doubt the decision she had been mulling over for months. because there is no perfect moment to leave the club of your life. and even less so when you are still making a decisive impact.

that is why alexia did not inform barça of her final decision until she was one hundred per cent certain. she did not want the speculation surrounding her future to disrupt or distract a team on the verge of winning another champions league title. although it inevitably ended up happening due to the player’s media and emotional profile, internally it was never seen as a dressing room issue. It was simply impossible for alexia’s potential departure to go unnoticed.

finally, the captain realised that it was the ideal moment to come full circle. She is leaving after winning another quartet of titles, having been absolutely vital and leaving the team ready for the next generation. a grand exit, consistent with everything she has meant in the club’s history. now, the future lies far from barcelona. alexia is considering offers from mexico and the united states, although the most tempting offers are coming from england.

femini-nomenon

"When you need me but do not want me, I must stay.

When you love me but no longer need me, I must go 💔”

Forever will be grateful to have seen you play for Barcelona. A perfect story that was written in the stars. May Culers remember May 26…

Gràcies, la reina 👑❤️💙 Alexia es Barça y El Barça es Alexia

palaugranetes

“These last few days have been very intense, but for example yesterday, when I went back to training after the days off the coach gave us — because he is the best coach this team could have, and he and his staff have shown that — it felt like coming home again, feeling safe again, feeling supported again. And that is thanks to my teammates.

I’ve tried to give the best of myself for all of you. I’ve given everything I had. I’ve tried to make sure that, from now on, all the things we’ve won remain there forever. I love you all so much for everything you’ve given me and taught me as a person, not only as a player. Obviously, I’m going to miss the training sessions and the hits we take while training and competing, which later allow us to play the way we do. But I want you to know that you will always have someone here who, whenever you need it, will stand by your side and help you, just as you have done for me.

Obviously, I also want to thank all the staff, led by Pere. Thank you for the way you treated me, for the respect, and for always wanting me to improve even after achieving everything. It has been an incredible journey, with staff members who have been with me since the beginning — Berta, Uri, everyone. Thank you for how you treated me.

And of course, also the board, everyone, especially Helena, who is always very present, but also Xavi Puig, who has always stood by my side and trusted me. I already told you this: I will keep doing everything in my power to help you and to make this club even better. And there is one thing that will always remain true: my story will always be with Barça, and nobody will ever change that.

And of course, to Rafa and the president, Jan, I wish you all the best. It has been a privilege to spend these years with you. I know from the conversations we’ve had that we also share this more emotional, family side — this bond that so many culers feel. And that will continue generation after generation, because Barça is carried in the blood, just as our parents taught us. I wish you all the best.

And finally, to all my people, to my family, to everyone who has accompanied me throughout this journey: I always felt that I was playing for myself, but also for all of them, because it was a way of feeling close to what my father represented to me.

So in a way, he has always been present. And I know it has also been hard for them, because this self-demand and the way I pushed myself also affected them in many ways. And that is one of the reasons behind this decision: I don’t want my family to empty themselves out as well. I want to thank them, because thanks to their support, ever since I was very young, I was able to fulfill my dream.

A perfect story.”

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and here it is: maria tikas on one last tribute to alexia 💔 "you've changed our lives, alexia"

as you say in the video, alexia, i don’t know where to start. yesterday you laid your heart bare, and today i’ll do the same. and I think or rather, I know that everything i’m about to say to you now, even though it comes from my heart and speaks for me, won’t be just my own feelings.

as a barça fan, it will be incredibly hard for me not to see you play in this shirt anymore. i can’t imagine barça without you. but i also fully understand your decision. because only you could leave in this way: so complete, so consistent, so worthy of everything you’ve been. a perfect story. this year i’ve seen you very happy, happier than in any of the past few years, and that has made us all happy. i know you’re leaving, as you said, full of love. and you deserve it.

one day i showed you a tattoo i have on my arm. “No hi ha distància”. it’s one of the most important things you’ve ever said and, as is often the case with many of the things you do, at the time you probably weren’t even aware of what it would come to mean. what you meant, after losing to wolfsburg and missing out on the champions league final for the only time in the last eight years, was that there was no longer any gap between you and europe’s top teams. that you were ready to win it. and you did. once, twice, three, four times. but that phrase means so much more.

it was the year i started at SPORT and the year i, a nobody, set out to do whatever i could and give it my all so that women’s football in general, and barça in particular, would get the visibility they deserved. so that one day they could become what they are today.

when i was little, i used to play football at school, and it never crossed my mind that i might one day become a footballer, thank goodness i didn’t have the role models that girls have today because, quite frankly, i wasn’t cut out for the game. but then again, i never imagined i might become a sports journalist and be telling all this. when i started out, it never crossed my mind, not even in the furthest corner of my mind, that one day i’d be reporting on champions league finals, records at camp nou, historic trips to bilbao, oslo or eindhoven. even to turin or lisbon. nor that i'd be able to write such a special book about your story.

and this is where that phrase changes everything too. because “no hi ha distància” wasn’t just about you. it was about us too. about all of us who have grown up alongside you. because you have paved the way for us as well. you have made media editors understand that this matters too. that it deserves space. that it deserves front pages. that it deserves to be told. and you have made us part of it too. so that here, too, there is no distance.

because you haven’t just paved the way for the girls of today. you have also made many women who had never felt part of this world understand, at last, that it was theirs too.

i truly believe, and i hope no one takes offence because i’m speaking for myself, that there has never been a better leader or captain in the history of this club. no one who embodies so perfectly, in every possible way, on the pitch, as a person, and in the community, what barça stands for. the titles, both team and individual, that you’ve won are almost the least important part of everything you’ve achieved. you’ve given your all for this badge. for these colours. for these teammates, those who remain and those who have moved on. for this sport. icons like iniesta, busquets and puyol paid tribute to you at your farewell. how incredible that is.

you have led an incredibly gruelling battle to bring women’s football to where it is today. and not just anyone could have done that. you have shouldered a great deal on your own so that it wouldn’t affect the rest of us. you have worn yourself out in daily struggles so that those coming after you would find the path a little easier. and you have succeeded. you spoke up when you had to, even though you’re not one for cameras or microphones. you kept quiet when you had to. always out of respect. there’s no need to list here all the barriers you’ve broken down. you will always be the first in everything.

you made me cry that day at the mini when you secured your place in the champions league final. you made me cry when you said there was no distance between us. you made me cry with that line, “if we win, we’ll be eternal, but because of how we play,” in gothenburg. you made me cry with your first ballon d’or in paris. a triumph for us all. you made me cry with that first bow at camp nou. so elegant. i don’t think there will ever be a more fitting celebration. the queen bowing to her people. “una di voi”.

you made me cry when you broke down, because that day we all broke down. you made me cry with that “when i recover, i’m going to face beasts, so i have to be a beast” to adrián. you made me cry with the second ballon d’or, because i could see you walking properly again, because those had been difficult months and that recognition was the boost you needed then, and also because it was my first time there.

you made me cry when you made your comeback. you made me cry when you lifted the champions league trophy in eindhoven, this time in front of your own fans, and gave patri that kiss on the forehead. you made me cry with that goal in bilbao, which will always be one of the most special i’ve ever witnessed. you made me cry when the camp Nou wouldn’t stop applauding you for your 500th match and chanting your name, and you were moved. you made me cry in oslo.

and yesterday i cried more than ever, at the camp nou and at the johan. because if barça is where it is today, and let me say this too, and if i am where i am, it is largely thanks to you. you’ve changed our lives. mine and that of so many more people than you’ll probably ever imagine. each in their own way.

thank you so much, alexia

ironmaidenhead

IT'S LOVE I'M AFTER (1937) — Dir. Archie Mayo

aidashakur

nixscriptum

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alexia on what inspires her and her favourite movies with vogue españa

source: voguespain on instagram

eh... ‘los domingos’, yes, but they're all great, eh? but i'll go with ‘los domingos’. i'm especially inspired by the stories...the real events that are explained, right? everyone's experiences, and there's always something that, even if i don't feel completely represented in the story, i always get something inspiring out of it.

what story in sport do you think deserves a film?

oooh, i think there are incredible stories in sport, lots of them, many of which are unknown, but, pfff, what would i say? eh, for example, the skier lindsey vonn, i think her story is incredible and super inspiring.

a film i've seen many times and always want to see again is the hours. i'd say that one.

outside of football, what inspires you?

what inspires me? well, people, people who do what they're passionate about, who fight to achieve their dreams and, above all, my family, my mother and all the women in my family who have always encouraged me and pushed me and inspired me to be what i want to be, and i would say those people.