the love of my life - Pablo Gavi

El Classico

I go to the dressing room with Pablo. I agreed with Xavi that I would help with the final preparations. The match doesn't start for another few hours, but because it is an important match, the entire team is already there. 

Pablo drives me into the dressing room. I feel my cheeks turning red. Ever since I was young, I've hated attention. But it is partly my own fault, after all, I am the girlfriend of a famous footballer who plays for one of the biggest clubs. 

"What have you done again, Tess?" I look at Pedri, laughing. ''Let's say. Of course I had to be so clumsy with football that I badly bruised my ankle.'' ''But are you okay?'' ''I'm fine. I'm still in a lot of pain, but that's because it happened only 2 hours ago.'' 

I laugh when I see Pedri's face. ''Then why are you here hermana? Go home, rest or something. I don't care what you do.'' I laugh. 

"Do you realize what day it is today hermano?" "Yes, today is Saturday'' he says with a smile. "Dumbass, today is El Classico! I just have to be there.'' 

Pedri picks up his phone. He holds his phone in front of me. ''You see. It's Saturday.'' I slap him on the arm. "You're so funny'' I say sarcastically. Pedri and I laugh. Then Xavi walks in. 

"Hey Tess!" "Hey Xavi, good to see you!" He looks at me. "Are you kidding me?" I look at him, startled. "No, what do you mean?" "Pablo just told me briefly what happened, but why aren't you at home?" 

"Because today is El Classico and you need me."

''If you insist. But I like it, because we really need your help. A coach suddenly dropped out due to illness, so I was wondering if you could fill in.'' I look at him happily. 

I've never been in the duckout in a game as a coach before, so it's quite exciting. 

"Are you serious?" He looks at me with a smile. ''If the pain isn't too bad and if you want it, then I hope you want it.'' ''Of course I do. 

I just have to text Mikky to ask if Hope can stay with her for this match.'' ''That's absolutely fine. Just tell me when you have an answer." "I will." Then Xavi walks away.

​

"Xavi, Hope can stay with Mikky, so I can be a coach." "Great! I want to discuss something about the setup, would you like to help?'' ''Yes of course!''

''Lamine is in the start. What do you think?'' 

''To be honest, I think it's better not to let Lamine start. You often notice that he is good in the beginning, but weakens shortly afterwards because it costs him too much energy. If you start him later, he can be a very big positive factor for Barcelona at the end of the game. And I also heard from Pedri that Lamine is not completely fit.

He can play, but if you let him start, you exhaust him completely.'' ''Okay, but who should we start in his place?'' ''I would say Gündogan myself.'' ''Smart. 

Okay, and then the midfield. We have Frenkie de Jong, Gavi and Gündogan.'' ''Frenkie in the middle for sure, that's where he always plays, he is the most intimate with and he just plays very well there.'' ''And Gündogan and Gavi?'' 

''I would put Gavi on the right side, because I have the feeling that he expresses himself more when he plays on the right. And then Gündogan on the left.'' ''Seems like a very good one to me. I think we have it then.'' ''Great!''

We go back to the locker room. The match starts in 1.5 hours and I already see some nervous looks. But I have confidence in this top team.

Xavi shows the setup and explains it. Everyone is watching. After the explanation, everyone starts changing. The players have already warmed up a bit, but now we go to the sports section to really warm up the muscles. I'm going to my office to do some work. I can't do much while the team is warming up.

After 1 hour we all go to the field to play with the ball for a while. I sit in the duckout with the coaches to watch. We also look at Real Madrids warming up. Sometimes you can already see what their technique is when they warm up. 

We discuss the tactics of both sides and then all the players come to the locker room to change. The two teams walk onto the field with the children and referees, while the club song is sung.

 Then the match starts.