La Masia's new arrivals kicking off Nou era

From strength to strength

In the corridor heading toward the games room is another reminder: a mural on the wall in tribute to the game between Levante and Barca on Nov 25, 2012.

It was another win that contributed to Barca winning the title that year but also a milestone for La Masia, after Barcelona had 11 homegrown players on the pitch, not to mention the coach, the late Tito Vilanova.

At that time it was difficult to imagine how the female team could find breathing space at a club where the men's team was so dominant－but the women's game continues to go from strength to strength.

In 2020, there were 77,400 licensed female players in Spain, 7.2 percent of all the federated soccer players, according to statistics from the country's ministry of sports.

It is still a small figure, but a clear improvement from 2011, when there were only 36,200, 4.3 percent of the total.

"There are many things that are still missing, such as professionalization in the league," says Coronado.

"We know the salaries are not going to be equal, but we would like to be able to live more comfortably from soccer, and that's what we're fighting for."

Spain's sports ministry approved the professionalization of La Liga Femenina in June but negotiations to see it through are proving complicated.