Ewa Pajor on her move to Barcelona and her dream of a first UEFA Women's Champions League final win
viernes, 23 de mayo de 2025
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"We have amazing players, amazing coaches and, yes, we can do it," says the Barcelona forward as she prepares for the UEFA Women's Champions League final against Arsenal.
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The Polish women's national team top scorer, Ewa Pajor moved to Barcelona last summer, where she now rubs shoulders with her male counterpart Robert Lewandowski.
The 28-year-old played in four UEFA Women's Champions League finals with Wolfsburg, her previous side, but lost all of them (three times against Lyon, and then against her current employers Barcelona in 2022/23). The dream is now that she can end her first campaign with her new club with her first winner's medal in the world's top club competition.
On moving from Wolfsburg to Barcelona
It was a big step for me. I was at Wolfsburg for nine years, and the league, the style of this club, how we play football, for me it was a big change. They have their own style of playing football, and I think I am still adapting, because the style of playing football here in Barcelona is very different but I like it a lot.
What impressed me the most was the club, the players, the coaches, the staff, because they won everything last year, everything two years ago, but I came here, and my first day here was hard work. 'It doesn't matter what we won last year. We want to win again.' And that's why we put in the hard work: to be better every day, to be better as a team. The mentality here is something I love, because I also like to give my all every single day.
On playing at the same club as Robert Lewandowski and Wojciech Szczęsny
Lewandowski was here before [me], and now Szczęsny is here, but we also have two [Polish] players in the girls' second team. For Polish fans, but also for the fans here in Barcelona, it's amazing to have five players from Poland here. [Me and Lewandowski] met for the first time here. We spoke a little bit [about] how Barcelona play, how the league is and because we also played in Germany, we spoke a little bit about this.
I watch the [men's] games, I watch Lewandowski’s games because we play in the same position, we play in the same style and because I know that he is a big player, a big striker and I want to [learn from] the details of [how Lewandowski plays].
On life in Barcelona
I was very happy in Wolfsburg – a small city, very easy – but of course, I like Barcelona, because of the country, the city, the weather; it’s beautiful and I enjoy [it] a lot. When we have free [time] I like to go to the beach to have this calm and to prepare [for] our goals.
On the art of preparing for a final
The time before the final is very important. You don't have to think like it's a big game. When you have a little bit more emotion – this is an amazing day and the emotion is very high – [you have] to be calm, prepare yourself and your team.
The final is played in the details and we can prepare the details before the game. What I have also learned – because I’ve played in four finals – you have to be there in the first minute until the end. Because I know we played against Barcelona [in 2022/23] and it was like: 'OK, we have [a 2-0 lead]' but the second half came and we lost.
On what it would mean to win in Lisbon
It's my dream to win this trophy, to win this trophy with this team, but we have to be calm, not obsessive about this trophy. We have to be prepared, to be focused and I hope we win this trophy like a team, because we have amazing players, amazing coaches and, yes, we can do it.
We have so much quality in our squad; it’s amazing. It’s my first season, but I’ve enjoyed it a lot. I’m very grateful to be part of this amazing group.