Judge My Skills, Not Me

Chapter 19: El Clásico

BZRAP Vol. #53 by Bizarrap and Shakira & Formation by Beyonce

A/N Hope you like the extra-long chapter! <3

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"This is a war zone," Cristina said looking out of the window of the bus. Even with the police escort to the Bernabeu, crowds of people with white Madrid shirts shouted curses at them and threw trash at the bus.

"I know," Leo said, barely looking out the window as he tried to block out the noise and close his eyes. "But, you can't let them get to you." Out of everyone on the bus, Leo knew what it was like to have the whole city of Madrid hate you. He created a routine every time they came to play against them which mostly consisted of naps and noise-canceling headphones.

Cristina nodded and sat back in her seat as she put on the headphones Leo gifted her before they left Barcelona. "For good luck," he told her. She just closed her eyes when a water bottle hit her window and startled her.

It was El Clásico.

Barcelona vs Real Madrid in the Santiago Bernabeu. As the newspapers said before the match, "when Madrid plays Barcelona, the world stops."

A rivalry with an intensity to topple all other rivalries and goes beyond the game. For everyone on the FC Barcelona team, this was more than a game or a club, it was everything. Like Luis Enrique said in the press conference before they left for Madrid, "If we win, we have a good month." Earning a couple of laughs from the journalist, but he wasn't joking. Winning today would mean more than getting a few points; it was beating your greatest opponent. People feel this match. It's a different feeling in the atmosphere. Whether you're young or old, man or woman, no matter where you're from, everyone knows it's the biggest game in the world.

And here Cristina was, making history again.

Luis was still out because of his ankle injury, so that meant Cristina was back in his spot. While it terrified her, she felt more comfortable up front after her training with Scott. Even Ney, Leo, and Luis came over to give her some tips and tricks. Luis was mostly on the sidelines drinking all the lemonade Ben made, Ney was showing off most of the time, and Leo was horrible at explaining his process, but she found their visit helpful. "You need to just trust that we'll be there to make the run and pull your weight too," Ney told her at the end. "It's almost like dancing, but with three people and a bunch of defenders trying to stop you."

Once they got off the bus, Cristina tried to keep her eyes forward until she got to the dressing room and could be alone. As she made her way past the men's locker room, some security guards stopped her. "Sorry, ma'am. You're not allowed to pass here before warm-ups."

"What do you mean?" she said, confused. "Is the women's locker room somewhere else?"

"No, but I'm afraid you're going to have to change with the rest of your team in the guest locker room," said the main security officer.

"I'm sorry. Is there a problem here?" Luis Enrique noticed the commotion before heading into the guest locker room.

"There's no problem. Just a misunderstanding," the man said. "She's not allowed to pass this point and has to change with the rest of the team."

"We specifically sent instructions that she would be allowed to change in the women's locker room before the game and after," Luis Enrique said, starting to sound frustrated. He knew this was just a tactic the Madrid bench was using to try and throw them off and psych Cristina out. "This is ridiculous."

"It's fine, boss," Cristina said strangely calmly. She walked toward the locker room with her other teammates, "Can't let it get to us."

When she walked in, everyone was confused, "Did you forget something?" Ney said, checking his pockets. "Did I forget to give you back your phone?" he asked, remembering that she lent him her phone to play music since his battery died.