Aitana: “I’m too self-demanding, that makes me better every day”

Talking about the Champions League this year is about Aitana Bonmatí (Sant Pere de Ribes, 01/18/1998). The Barça midfielder is the best in the competition and this is confirmed by his five MVPs so far in the European season. A few days before the final, he spent some time chatting with MD to allow us to discover his most personal facet and to know more about what is hidden behind this world star.

How is the ‘bug’, are you nervous?

He is alive, it is normal before the appointment of this level and the question is many days left and it seems long.

Tell us about the professional structure that surrounds you.

I really appreciate everything we have at Barça, we have the highest level of professional structure with the people around us, so I try to get the best out of it. But I decided a long time ago that I wanted to have something outside, because it was good for me and it was another way of telling myself that I don’t lose sight of the goal and that I keep working to be better. great every day. Outside the club I have my physio, physical trainer, psychologist and nutritionist. The club also has these professionals and I value them equally, I try to get the best out of all of them.

Being able to live in Barcelona or its surroundings, he continues in his hometown. What made you do this?

It’s relaxing and disconnecting, I think that if I lived next door I don’t know how to disconnect when I see Sports City every day, when I go out to compare it… I am where I want to be , I’m with my people, I am with my family and my friends there. It is a town that I like very much and where I feel very good and very calm. That’s the word. Silence and disconnection.

Are you very self-demanding?

Oh yes. Too much. .

He exudes a lot of confidence in himself. Is that so?

Yes, I think everyone, let’s not fool ourselves, there are moments of self-doubt because the society we live in today makes you think at some point in your life if you are worth or not, and also because it is not always You can be at 10 or 11, which is what I always demand of myself. When I’m not at that level, sometimes I wonder, am I worth it? Am I doing it right? You question and you question yourself, but those moments have to exist to overcome you, strengthen you and move forward. Yes, it’s true that I trust my abilities even though I’m human, I’m human and I also have moments of failure, just like everyone else.

He always wanted more.

I always say that it’s very hard for me to recognize when I’ve played a good game, it’s like I always see the negative side. It is true that in recent years I have managed it better, because I believe that not knowing how to carry it does me more harm than good. But, on the other hand, there is self-demand, looking for the 10 or 11 that we talk about always makes me improve every day and also become the player that I am today. I am a non-conformist, many times they tell me what party you did! and me thinking, it’s not that I’ve missed two passes… and I’ll stick with that instead of keeping all the good I’ve done, but I know how to handle it right now.

Did you enjoy or suffer as a footballer?

I always say that I think I suffer more than I enjoy, the truth. They always ask me and I say it, it’s like the constant suffering of wanting the best and always wanting to win. Now, when I stop to think, I’m calm at home and I say ‘and the day I don’t have all this, the day I retire… maybe I should enjoy every moment, right? ‘ I always say this, but I don’t apply it to myself.

Is he fifth in the Ballon d’Or and knows little of his self-demand?

Yes, but I also wouldn’t want to get involved with these prizes because sometimes it’s not all up to you and they go on, so I try to give these prizes as little value as possible, but it’s true what the people. I’m ‘Fifth in the Ballon d’Or’, and you think about it coldly and I know you’re happy because in the end I’m doing things right and all the journey you’ve made to date is worth it, but as as I told you, I don’t think too much about these awards and what I have in mind is to improve every day, improve every day, give a better version of myself every day and then if something comes, well , it will come. I’m not spinning in my head.

Do you feel recognized?

Yes, it’s true, especially in the last two years, the love of the fans has reached me a lot and especially when I’m, for example, in my hometown, when I go down the street and almost everyone knows me , like in a picture with me and others. Sometimes you are with your friends in the town square and this is your moment of disconnection and they come to you to ask for pictures and I don’t think this has happened in a long time and you have to appreciate it because you do well, and when you see shirts with your name on them it’s something you’re especially excited about and you have to thank for it.

The League ended on a bittersweet note, how do you get that good feeling back?

It has been left and I don’t want to draw conclusions from these matches because every time we have become champions and there are matches left to finish it they cost us because of the level of thought, whether you like it or not, even if you prepare super well, because I know that I only prepared super for the previous games, but unconsciously, your mind seems to be relaxing, you’ve won the title, you don’t have a goal anymore. Now the focus is one hundred percent on the final.

Is thirteen days a lot without competing?

From what we do, both yes. It’s still strange, but I can get the negative and positive part of everything, if we focus on the negative, I think it doesn’t bring us anything. There is the fact that we don’t have that competitive incentive, but I think that when we have time to better prepare for the game, not travel and rest more, we should also appreciate it.

Are you missing the opportunity to boost women’s football by playing in a small stadium and at unusual times?

I don’t care. If for me, I find a better time, for example six or seven o’clock in the evening, it is perfect. And for what the stadium is, I think that having played at Camp Nou and filled it, a bigger stadium could be found, especially because of the greatness that women’s football has achieved. I think these details need to be valued more and we should be treated equally.

Could it benefit Wolfsburg?

Last year in Turin most of the fans were blaugrana and Lyon won because they were better in that game. In a final I would not like to focus on if it benefits a team because last year and it was seen that it is not like that. It is true that for my part I want to have a lot of Barça people in the stands, I think there will be, from what has been said, but maybe not as many as last year because of the capacity of the stadium.

Was playing the final in the Netherlands special because of your relationship with Cruyff and his Foundation?

Yes, obviously everything related to the world of Cruyff and his Foundation makes it special, in the end it is true that every Champions League final is special, but it is more related to Cruyff for me.

What has changed at Barça since the first final?

Today we are a competitive team, which knows how to compete in any type of match and against any type of opponent. It is true that last year we lost against Lyon, but I have the feeling that as a team we have matured and we know how to be, we know how to compete, physically we are in good shape and we can compete face to face any team, and that didn’t happen in the first final . In that sense, we have improved as a team, the technical and tactical level, we already know that we are a good team, but we have been and I think it has been accompanied by a physical evolution and that we know the each other a lot.

And what about Aitana?

About me pretty much the same. I think that every year I improve and I like being a complete player and a complete player is not only based on giving passes and scoring goals, but also on defensive work which is no longer seeing when I have to jump under pressure. When I have to withdraw, I try to help the team in any way I can and make me a more complete player. I think my physical level has improved a lot from the first final until now and now, even if it’s small, I don’t think that physique should be measured by height, but by physical features skills you can develop on the pitch. .

He already has five MVPs this year.

Let’s see, I don’t think I have time to stop and think about it. Every day of football goes by very quickly and you play and that game is no longer valid for the next one, and the next time you have to be the same as before or better, then you quickly forget everything. already. Yes, it’s true that I’m proud of everything I’ve achieved, but most of all what I’ve achieved with my team. In the end, there are some of us who have been here for many years, the trajectory is long and beautiful because year after year we improve ourselves, therefore, I am proud to be alive.

Is the key to growth in the block of young people who are no longer so young and growing up together?

Don’t tell me I’m not young anymore, it’s a shame (laughs).

He was young, but five years younger.

I know, sometimes I think and say ‘you’re 25 years old, I’m 7 and 11 in the first team at Barça’. Time passes and you don’t realize it. The young people that we raised, and now we are not so young, as you say, I believe that we have contributed new things to football that existed before. I don’t want to forget any of them, but Patri, Mariona, Pina, I don’t know if I forgot anyone, obviously Mapi and such, but I’m talking about the ones younger than us. we brought a more dynamic, faster football to football than before and with the talent there are more players who come from abroad, I’m talking about Frido (Rolfö), I’m talking about Caro ( Graham), whatever. The mix of everything made us a winning team.

Finally, tell me what it is about Aitana Bonmati Academy?

Both I and my company, WOM, have the idea to create the Aitana Bonmatí Academy where this year we will also have a summer campus, but the idea is that they will not only hold summer events , but there may also be continuity in the year. It’s about being a place where I can be and be a close person to all the players. And that they can learn a lot at the level of football, but also at the level of values ​​and other activities.

Thank you very much and we look forward to the sixth MVP in Eindhoven.

The important thing is to win and we hope to get it in Eindhoven