Misa Rodríguez, passion of Champions

The history of Real Madrid with the Champions League is the story of a crush from day one, as witnessed by the 13 trophies in its museum.

But in its women's category, the white club has just begun to take its first steps in the elite.

This season, the second in Madrid's women's division, they will play their first edition of the Champions League, a tournament currently dominated by their greatest rival, current champions, Barcelona, ​​which takes a few years of advantage over women's football momentum.

For their debut, Real Madrid must first beat Manchester City in the qualifying round.

The first leg will be this Tuesday at the Alfredo di Stéfano (9:00 p.m., Realmadridtv), with all tickets sold, and the return in Manchester on September 8.

One of the keys to the tie is not to suffer behind and for this, White has one of his most important figures in goal.

María Isabel Rodríguez (Gran Canaria, 22 years old), known as

Misa

, defends the goal of Madrid knowing that they are on the verge of their next big step.

“This past year has been to get to know each other and build the team.

But we want to win everything, we are Real Madrid and we know what that means.

The goal of the club is to be in the Champions League ”, highlights the goalkeeper.

More information

• The world of football turns to Misa Rodríguez after suffering sexist comments on Twitter

• Women's Barcelona sweeps the UEFA gala

Misa was one of Madrid's first bets when it came to launching its women's section last season, signed at the age of 20 from Deportivo de la Coruña after just one year in the Iberdrola League.

“It has been an incredible season.

The Mass that started and the Mass now are totally different, I have grown in all aspects.

Wearing the Real Madrid crest requires you to give your best every day and that drives us ”, he reflects on his first year with the white club.

32 games played, all as a starter, and 30 goals conceded (0.9 per game) to finish in second place behind the almighty Barcelona.

Sportingly, everything was joy last year for the Canarian goalkeeper, summoned for the first time with the senior team. But off the pitch, he experienced a macho episode due to a tweet. Misa shared some photos of Asensio and her clutching his shirt under the slogan "same passion" after the Spaniard scored against Liverpool in the quarterfinals of the Champions League. Then, macho comments surfaced on the networks. "They are people who hide behind a screen and I can't care what they say," he recalls, dismissing it. “I deleted my message because I never wanted it to go viral or anything like that. It did not affect me ”.

But the world of football did not let it pass and turned to support the player.

Asensio himself wrote in his networks “same passion.

Let nothing and no one prevent you from saying what you think ”, upon learning what happened.

"I can only thank the support, it was something very nice," says Misa.

Crowds of clubs and soccer players from Spain and Europe shared the goalkeeper's motto, crying out to banish soccer machismo.

Same passion ⚪ 💪

That nothing and no one prevent you from saying what you think. @ Marisabelrr1 @realmadridfem @realmadrid pic.twitter.com/wLybiMhGkS

- Marco Asensio (@ marcoasensio10) April 7, 2021

Despite this bad experience with social networks, the twenty-something knows the good side of these platforms. "My reference as a child was Hope Solo (goalkeeper of the US team retired in 2016) and I found her through YouTube because there was no way to watch the games," she reflects on the visibility that these platforms give. This year, the Women's Champions League, in addition to being broadcast entirely on DAZN, will also be broadcast on YouTube, something that Misa considers "a huge step" for women's sport. "It is very important that any girl can watch the games for free, on a platform that she knows perfectly, so that they get hooked and dream one day of playing the Champions League."

In addition to Real Madrid, Levante is also looking for its ticket to the Champions League in the qualifying round.

On Wednesday they will face Olympique de Lyon at home (9:00 pm, GOAL) and on September 8 they will play the second leg of the tie in France.

If both make it through the tie, they will join Barcelona in the group stage that begins the first week of October.

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