A/N: I'm back from my Thanksgiving break:) Can't wait to sing this song again in the stadium next week🫶🏻

STARTING XI

FC Barcelona Femení

1 Sandra Paños (GK)
2 Irene Paredes
4 María León
5 Jana Fernandez
7 Caroline Graham Hansen
10 Jenni Hermoso
11 Alexia Putellas (C)
14 Aitana Bonmatí
18 Geyse Ferreira
21 Keira Walsh

FC Bayern Munich (fictional squad)

22 Mala Grohs (GK)
5 Hanna Glas
7 Giulia Gwinn
9 Jovana Damnjanović
10 Linda Dallmann
12 Sydney Lohmann (C)
17 Klara Bühl
18 Sara Doorsoun
19 Lynn Wilms
21 Bethany England
31 Georgia Stanway

"I don't wanna go outside" I whined, sitting on the bench in the changing room in Camp Nou. The thought of having to face my old team in the biggest stadium I will probably play in during my entire career was making me feel so nauseous that I did not even want to go on the pitch for the warm up.

"Come on, princesa. I promise I won't leave your side" Mapi encouraged me, firmly holding my hand, which had turned unbelievably cold from all the stress, in hers.

"Pinky promise?" I asked, looking at her with big puppy eyes like a baby.

I needed her right now.

"Pinky promise!" the blonde defender laughed, holding her pinky finger out for me to intertwine with mine.

With a last deep exhale, I got up to follow the rest of my team, walking through the red and blue colored hallway of Camp Nou before turning to the stairs leading to the pitch.
I could hear the chants of the fans, the Barcelona anthem blasting from big speakers as our players entered the huge field one by one.

"Blaugrana al vent,
un crit valent
tenim un nom el sap tothom
Barça!
Barça!
Baaarça!"

I threw Mapi a last desperate look before turning around to take the last two steps of the stair at once.

With my gaze focused on my feet touching the grass, I started running towards my teammates for the warm up session, Mapi closely following me.

My plan to not check out the other side of the pitch to see if Bayern had already arrived failed horribly when I couldn't properly accept Mapi's pass and had to turn around to get the ball back.
It was impossible to miss the two dozens of red pregame kits running around.

Especially one of them, a tall, dark blonde girl caught my eye, as she turned around, our eyes interlocking immediately.

It felt bizarre to be in my best friend's presence again after not having seen her in over three months, my heartbeat accelerating immediately and my surroundings becoming blurry.

For a moment, I could only focus on her familiar face, memories of all the good times we had spent together flashing through my mind.

All I wanted to do in that moment was to go up to her and hug her, but not only was I not allowed to do that, after all Klara had done I just couldn't.

Suddenly, our eye contact got interrupted, every person in the huge stadium focusing on only one thing; an incredibly loud, painful scream.

Startled, I spun around, worryingly following my teammates who were all running towards Alexia laying on the ground of Camp Nou, holding her left thigh in tears.

"What the hell happened?" I asked in total shock as we lined up in a tight circle around our Captain in an attempt to block the view of her.

"I don't know" Jana replied, kneeling next to her friend and mentor as she was holding her hand supportively. "We were warming up together and then she suddenly went down."

"It's the back of my thigh" Alexia cried as the medical team came running over. "It hurts so much."

With the help of the paramedics, the Barcelona captain was finally able to get up, her face contorting in pain as she limped off the field.

"This is not good at all" Jenni murmured to herself next to me, worryingly watching her ex-girlfriend being treated on the sideline.

"The game hasn't even started and we've already lost our best player" Mapi agreed, nervously stepping from one leg to the other. "I just hope she's okay."

Jonatan, who had been talking to the paramedics, came running over. "Chicas, please return to your warm up! I know this is a tough situation, but Alexia is in good hands and I need you to concentrate on the game. As soon as I know something about her status, I'll update you immediately, but she's definitely out for today's game! Emilia, I need you to take her starting place and Patri's going to be our captain. All set?"

My jaw dropped in complete disbelief when I heard our manager's words. The game was set to begin in 20 minutes, leaving me little time to prepare to take over Alexia's role as good as possible, even though I knew no one could ever replace her.

However, that made the whole situation even worse.

Mapi's hand softly brushed against my arm, the innocent touch being enough for my hairs to stand up. "You're gonna do amazing, princesa."

We wrapped up our warm up session shortly after, returning to the changing room to quickly put on our home kits when Jonatan entered the room with Alexia, using crutches to walk properly.

"It's not as bad as it looks!" Our captain quickly shut down our worries. "Don't you guys even dare to worry about me, the most important thing is that we win this game! It certainly won't be easy, but I believe in each and every one of you! We can do this together!"

After going over the last tactics with Jonatan, we huddled into a last encouraging group hug, before making our way outside. As the substitutes hurried to the bench and we stood in a line in front of the stairs leading up to the pitch, our eyes glued to the clock in anticipation for the start of the game, I suddenly felt a firm grip on my shoulder.

"I specifically asked Jonatan to give my position to you" I heard Alexia's voice whisper into my ear. "Even though you haven't been here for long, I trust you on and off the pitch and I see your potential. You're amazing, Emilia. Now go out there and show them!"

I turned around, my eyes interlocking with Alexia's reassuring gaze. "Thank you, Ale. It means a lot to me."

"Of course" She smiled, before moving her lips closer to my ear. "Who is this tall, blonde girl over there? She can't stop starring at you!"

One eyebrow raised in confusion, I turned around, instantly finding the blonde in question standing in the Bayern line, her sparkling green eyes glued on me.

Our eyes met, causing my heart to anxiously skip a beat as I swallowed audibly.

"Viel Glück, Emilia" ("Good luck, Emilia") She said in an emphatically friendly manner, her lips forming a fake smile.

Initially, I didn't want to reply, but I knew I had to in order to keep things professional for the sake of not only this game, but our whole national team.

"Danke, Sydney" ("Thanks, Sydney") I hissed in her direction before spinning back to Alexia.

"She's just a former teammate" I shrugged in an attempt to play it down.

"Are you sure?"

Even though I knew there was no way Alexia was believing me, I nodded firmly, hoping Alexia would just let it go.

With a last questioning glance, the Catalan woman left me alone with my thoughts, Sydney's burning gaze still palpable in my back.

I knew I needed to forget what happened at Bayern Munich to completely focus on this game.

For the next 90 minutes all that mattered was winning.

No matter how.

*

It was a though game as Bayern was in their best shape and therefore able to easily defend most of our attempts, using Alexia's absence in their favor.

After half-time, Geyse finally managed score, but unfortunately Georgia Stanway equalized in the 85th minute with a beautiful header.

As I watched my former teammates celebrating, I could feel my heart contracting in jealousy.

Once upon a time, before everything came crashing down, they celebrated my goals just like that.

And then Sydney happened.

Sighing loudly, I returned to our side, my jealousy turning into anger as we desperately needed to score against them in the next 5 minutes.

I managed to steal the ball from Bethany England, dribbling to the other half. My eyes searched for help, but there was no one I could have passed to. We were a chaotic bunch without Alexia.

When the 90 minutes were over, the referee ordered an additional 3 minutes, giving us another chance to possibly score.

And that chance would soon come as I was standing in Bayern's penalty box in the 92th minute, Frido passing the ball in my direction from the left side.
I stopped the ball with my right foot, attempting to shoot it straight into Mala's goal when I felt someone harshly pulling me back, causing me to fall on the ground.

The whole stadium erupted in anger as I winced in pain, the referee and some of my teammates rushing into my direction.

"Are you okay?" Keira kneeled next to me with a worried look on her face, her hand brushing through my ponytail.

I firmly nodded my head, doing my best at ignoring the sharp pain in my left hand as I desperately wanted to finish this game. "Only my hand hurts a little. I'll be okay, but who-"

My answer got interrupted by the arrival of a mad looking Mapi.

"Are you out of your mind?" the defender yelled angrily at someone I couldn't see right away, her strong Spanish accent showing as she was speaking English.

"I didn't do anything" a familiar voice replied calmly.

Sydney.

Would she really go that far to foul me in the box, risking a possible penalty?

"Do you need the medics?" the referee, a short, dark haired woman questioned me.

When I denied, she pointed to the penalty spot, whereupon the entire Camp Nou erupted into expectant cheers.
The three minutes of additional time had passed already, meaning the game would be over after the penalty. If we scored now, we would win the first leg.

Mapi threw a last angry glance into Sydney's direction, before she held her hand out to help me up. Thankfully, I reached for it with my uninjured hand and let the Spaniard pull me up, our faces only centimeters apart when I was finally standing again.

"Show them how good you are, princesa" Mapi whispered encouragingly, her thumb briefly stroking over my hand before she let it go.

It was a no brainer that I would be the one to take the penalty as I knew Mala Grohs better than anyone else after having played alongside her for 5 years.

I placed the ball on the penalty spot, the others lining up behind me.

My eyes scanned through the stand of Camp Nou, where the 73'938 spectators were slowly becoming quiet again, before they landed on a nervous looking Mala. She too knew that we had practiced this situation thousands of times before.. I couldn't help but slightly feel sorry for her as it was basically a free goal for us.

The ref blew the whistle and I slowly started running towards the ball, perfectly shooting it into the top right corner like I knew I would, being all too familiar with her strengths and weaknesses.

Once again Camp Nou bursted out in cheers, almost drowning out the sound of the referee's whistle.

The game was over.

"You fucking did it!" Jenni yelled as she jumped on me, causing me to almost fall over for a second time today.

"Be careful with my hand" I laughed, gently letting her down again.

"What a goal, princesa" Mapi smiled, pulling me into a tight hug, gently placing a small kiss on my cheek. "You showed them what they lost!"

"Thank you" I grinned, getting lost in her beautiful eyes as I pulled away. What I would have given to kiss her in this moment and not having to hide whatever this was. Unfortunately, we both knew what could happen when you get involved with your teammates and therefore had silently agreed to keep this under wraps.

Nevertheless, I left my arm around her shoulders as we walked to the sideline where Alexia and Jonatan were waiting for us.

"I knew you could do it!" Our captain greeted me with a big grin. "I'm so proud of you!"

"Thanks Ale, I really appre-"

"Können wir reden?" ("Can we talk?") A way too familiar voice interrupted me, my best friend appearing in front of me, a pleading expression on her face.

Klara knew exactly that I couldn't possibly deny in front of my manager and captain without having to give a proper explanation.

"Klar" ("Sure") I swallowed audibly, throwing a last anxious glance in Mapi's direction who helplessly shrugged her shoulders.

In silence, we walked back to the middle of the huge pitch, away from the stands where we could have been overheard by nosy fans way too easily.

"Was gibts?" ("What's up?") I asked coldly, purposely starring at the ground instead of her as we came to a stop. She didn't have to know how nervous I was.

"Ernsthaft, "was gibts"? Du meldest dich zwei Monate nicht bei mir und dann kommst du mit "was gibts"?" ("Seriously, "what's up?" You haven't talked to me in two months and then you hit me up with "what's up"?") Klara replied loudly, her pleading expression turning into an angry one.

"Du weisst genau, wieso ich mich nicht gemeldet habe." ("You know exactly why I haven't reached out.") I hissed, my blood boiling at the fact that we were having the same conversation as the day I had my heat stroke. My hopes of her having returned to her senses ever since shattered.

"Du könnest mich wenigstens anhören!" ("You could at least hear me out!") my former best friend, the person I had once trusted with my whole life, protested.

"Warum sollte ich? Willst du mir wieder weismachen, Syndey habe sich geändert? Wir haben ja heute gesehen, wie fest sie sich geändert hat" ("Why should I? Are you trying to tell me again that Syndey has changed? We've both seen today how much she's changed.") I laughed ironically, trying to mask the pain of Klara still sticking to the person who had basically ruined my life.

"Das Foul war ein Versehen!" ("The foul was an accident!")Klara eagerly defended my former bully.

"Ein Versehen? Wirklich, Klara? Nicht einmal Syndey kann so dumm sein!"
("An accident? Seriously, Klara? Not even Syndey could be that stupid!")

Speaking of the devil, the tall, dark blonde appeared behind Klara, her lips forming a malicious grin. "Redet ihr über mich?"("Are you talking about me?")

My heart dropped as she came closer, memories of the past years flashing before my eyes and making it unable for me to form a proper sentence. "Ehm..."

"Everything okay, princesa?" Suddenly, Mapi had come over and defensively stood next to me.

I nodded quietly, attempting to show her how immensely thankful I was that she had come for my rescue by briefly squeezing her hand.

Sydney's gaze flew back and forth between Mapi and me, her cruel smile, that I had once adored so much, growing bigger. "Es hat sich also nichts verändert." ("Nothing has changed then.")

"Was meinst du?" ("What do you mean?")I asked, even though I exactly knew what she meant.

"Du fickst also immer noch deine Teamkollegen, huh?"
("You're still fucking your teammates, huh?")

"Syd!" Klara tried to intervene like in the old days, grabbing Sydney's arm.

All her teasing always circled back to that one thing. When I was still at Bayern, I let it slip, because a part of me felt not only sorry for her, but also responsible to keep her secret, one of the reasons why she had it out for me.
But things had changed, I was no longer at Bayern where I had to endure her on a daily basis, having always feared of her next steps if I brought up what I was about to say.

Determined, I lifted my gaze from the pitch, my eyes meeting her well-known ones.

"Du hattest damit kein Problem als wir was zusammen hatten."
("You didn't seem to mind when we were hooking up.")