2025 is bringing Laia Aleixandri (Santa Coloma de Gramanet, Barcelona; 24 years) everything he always dreamed. Participates in the Eurocup as one of the headlines of Spain and He has just signed a four -year contract with Barcelona, the club of which they made a partner the day he was born. On August 25 he will turn 25, but his name has been playing for a long time. With it, it is fulfilled that the players grow faster and their life advances at a different speed than the rest. For their experiences and for the maturity and tranquility that shows before them. Before landing in Switzerland, he lived a frantic weeks. In a period of six days, He received Montse’s call for the euro, He married and signed for Barça after finishing his contract with Manchester City. Before the match against Italy (21.00; LA1), which will close the group stage, the central attends to El País.
Ask. The feeling, right now, is that in the selection there is not a single problem, that everything flows.
Answer. It is true that we have been dragging positive results, but there is also a lot of improvement margin for this selection. Not everything is a rose path because it can always be improved. We are a very cheerful and very ambitious selection, and there is always demand, both inside and outside the field.
P. The first two games were brilliant and reinforced their favorite poster, are you scared of expectations?
R. I would not say the word is to scare. We hear the noise out of what it is Our bubble. And we also demand ourselves, we have many expectations put in ourselves and we know what we are capable. Many things are needed in a big tournament. We take it normally and ambition.
P. Side, central, defensive pivot … in what position does it pay better?
R. I don’t know what to tell you. I have been playing for many years. I would tell you that I have very automated movements, I can flow much more in the game. When I have to act in other positions it is overlap. That versatility demands more because you have no movements so automated, you have to be more concentrated, but I always have that willingness to contribute to the team.
P. I took a lot to press in the opposite field to avoid transitions, which looks like the only mole in Spain. Do you think that defensive weakness can mark matches against selections such as England, France or Germany?
R. We are very self -examining, it is something we have in the spotlight and we are working. There is no selection, I don’t know if in the world, but in the Eurocup, Let us play as we play. Is that the rival We have it almost in the other area, Leaving so many spaces that are difficult from behind being connected to the attack game and while thinking that they do not make that transition. It is a phase of the game that we can improve, of course, but we are exposed, we add many people to the attack, our two sides are almost extreme. We are aware of the risk, and according to the rival that touches us we will have to see how to assume those situations.
P. Do you get a lot of cane?
R. I always like to see the games again. I am a demanding aunt, there are errors or not. And I like it. If it is not seen from the outside, I already say it.
P. I took a reputation to be very obsessive, in the good sense of the word, very detailed.
R. Yes it is. It makes us a lot of emphasis, above all, in the early stages of the matches. Against Belgium there was some inaccuracy in the first minutes and insisted on those small details that are what make us feel good in our game. I would tell you that it is in the first minutes when it is more on us. It demands that we get humbly, from you to you, because if we do not put the same energy, the same desire, in football and in sport, no matter how much talent you have, it is very difficult.
P. The other day, Esther González and Irene Paredes asked the media not to put so much pressure to Alexia Putellas. How is she inside the locker room?
R. I see that with pressure it works wonderfully, the truth. You just need to see the press conference on the other day [contra Bélgica] To see that it is a team aunt, an aunt who is very good as a companion and as a player. If she wants it, leave her calm. If not, continue like this, Because I believe that she doesn’t affect anything.
P. He returns to the club of his life, of which he is a member since he was born. How different is Laia Aleixandri now from the one eight years ago?
R. My mother, very much. He left a girl, a young player, little experienced, very ambitious, and returns a player with a lot of experience, but, at the same time, he is still that same girl.
P. In the selection defensive double with Irene Paredes. Where are we going to see it in Barcelona?
R. I have not had time to talk so much with Pere [Romeu]but I think that in Barça they see me as a central one, although it is also good that I have that flexibility to act in other positions.
P. He arrived at City being an unknown and left as a star. How much should the English team?
R. Lot. I made the decision to get out of my very young comfort zone [tenía 20 años] And they welcomed me with open arms. I became a captain, I learned the language. On a personal level, I take a lot, but at a professional level, much more. I learned how to implement my football identity in such a different football. Manchester City marked me.
P. You It didn’t go to the World Cup for the crisis of the 15. That wound, if it can be called that, has healed?
R. I would not say injured, but it is something that marks, in my trajectory it will always be. The first days marked me for worse. Then you understand how to manage it, how to transform it into motivation. I supported the selection and of my friends for a long time to raise the cup. It was a bit mix, because I wasn’t there. The memory I have is learning. I have managed it a lot with my psychologist, it helped me take it along a path through which I could get positive things.
P. Then he came back. In what note that things have improved?
R. In many things: in nutrition, in the amount of fisios we have… that helps us a lot because in such a short competition it is a key aspect to cover. Also on trips, that we are just about to give up, to get to the site and play; We do not make such long journeys. And in recovery resources: the hyperbaric chamber, infrared … Everything is designed to improve our performance, the focus is on sports.
P. He married in June and has come to the Eurocup. Willn’t honey moon have?
R. I don’t know if after the Eurocup we will have a lot of time. Honeymoon there will be, but it is not a bad plan to be here. If that, for the next summer, hopefully to focus the days after the Eurocup ends on anything other than the honeymoon.
P. In celebrating the title?
R. In something else, I’m not going to gafarlo, but in something else.