Athenea: ‘I Would Never Play for Barça, Even if It Were the Last Team on Earth

Athenea reflects on substitutions: “The changes were decided right from the start” Athenea shares her perspective on the halftime substitutions against Italy / Perform

Athenea del Castillo, a player for Real Madrid Women and a Spanish international, expressed that she would “never” play for Barcelona, “even if it were the only team left in the world,” emphasizing her desire to retire at the white club.

“To me, I’m in the best club in the world. It’s a dream for me to be at Real Madrid; I’ve been a Real Madrid fan since I was a child. I would never play for Barcelona, even if it were the only team left in the world, because my dream is to play for Real Madrid. I hope I can retire at Real Madrid and spend my entire career there,” she stated in an interview with EFE.

Regarding the recent match against Barcelona in the F League, which they lost 0-3, and the subsequent talk from their coach, Alberto Toril, congratulating the players on their effort and encouraging them not to be sad but to keep trying, she said: “Alberto told us that. I always leave angry when I lose because I don’t like losing, especially against Barcelona, that’s a fact. We want to beat Barcelona; we want to be close to winning titles, and we have to keep working for that.”

“We represent, in my opinion, the best club in the world, and the best club in the world deserves to win. We represent a badge that must be carried around the world, and we want to win. But in the end, we have very few years of existence, only four. The other teams, when they started winning, had been around much longer. It’s true that we want to win, and we are the first ones working to achieve it. We are working, the club is growing every year, and hopefully, we will be close to winning,” she added.

After that match, Caroline Graham Hansen, a Barcelona player, stated that Real Madrid players “always speak before” Clásicos and “claim they are closer” to Barcelona, but she and her teammates continue to win those rivalry matches. Caroline Graham Hansen: “Being a Barça Fan Fills Me with Pride”

Asked about this, Athenea responded: “That’s not true because personally, we don’t make any statements before the Clásicos or anything like that; I don’t know where she could have gotten that from. I think maybe she misunderstood, but I usually don’t pay attention. She is a great player, and it’s a privilege to have her in our league. Obviously, we want to win, and every day we want to be closer to winning.”

She also explained how she handles being one of the Real Madrid players who receives the most criticism from fans of other teams: “I live very calmly. Rival fans focus on me a bit, but that’s probably because I must be doing something right.”

“When there’s that little rivalry between teams, it’s normal; it’s part of the sport. As long as there’s no lack of respect, I think it’s great that rivalry exists among fans. That’s the beauty of football, that different people from different places support different teams. For me, that’s the most important thing,” she concluded.