Driving into Madrid airport has presented Caroline Weir with way more problems than anything on the pitch as she has steered herself seamlessly into the Real Madrid midfield.
The 27-year-old Scottish midfielder assimilated quickly into Madrid with her season’s stats underlining just how pivotal she has become for the Spaniards. But it has not all been plain sailing.
“I went to pick my mum up at the airport and got stuck at a pay barrier,” explained the 27-year-old. “Everyone was shouting in Spanish behind me - it is just one lane - and they were all beeping their horns and honking away. There was no-one to help or a buzzer to press and I was really stressed out.
“I can get by with my Spanish now - and I know that terminal very well now! - but little things like that which would be easy to navigate at home were a lot harder. Even small things like driving on the other side of the road. Now I don’t even have to think about it.”
Weir - named Glen’s SFWA Women’s International Player of the Year- netted twice on Sunday as Real Madrid came from two goals down to beat Levante and while Barca have claimed the title, there is a Copa de la Reina semi-final next Wednesday to prepare for.
The 27-year-old midfielder can count herself as one of the first names on the teamsheet. So far there have been 19 league goals and six Champions League goals from her debut season in Spain.
To give those numbers their proper context, it is worth noting that Alexia Putellas, the Barcelona striker who has won back-to-back Ballon d’Ors and who was voted the best female player in the world by FIFA in 2021, has never bagged higher than 18 league goals. Driving herself to be bracketed among the elite was the reason for her move to Madrid from Manchester City last summer.
“It was always an objective of mine for as long as I can remember to try and become one of the best players in the world,” said Weir. “I know that is a very subjective thing but I have always had the drive to want to keep pushing myself and coming out of my comfort zones.
“It was really important to me that making the move to Madrid wasn’t about coming here for the sun and for a different lifestyle but rather I was coming to push myself and compete . There is a process to follow and next season I hope that I am going one step further but definitely for me it is about competing at the highest level I possibly can and about having silverware to show for it.
“It is so easy to say that you want to be the best in the world. For me it is all about day-to-day consistencies. It is about training properly and then doing some gym work and about recovering properly. As I have got older I have appreciated that a bit more and I probably have a different perspective now than I did when I was 22. It is what you do day to day, what you do on match days and how you help the team.”
Being part of an El Clasico has also been an eye-opener for Weir. She has yet to beat the Catalans but did find the net against them - Madrid’s only goal against the title holders this season - when she netted a trademark free-kick in the Spanish Super Cup semi-finals.
“I knew that Barca were the more established team before I came and they have some great players,” she said. “But we are fairly close, I think. We play each other four times a season and it is good for me to see how they play, a team that have made it to the Champions League final.
“The games against them have been interesting and everything around El Clasico is amazing. There is a lot of history around the game and I think the atmosphere at the game and in the build-up reflects that. It definitely feels a bit different. On the day itself there is something in the air when Madrid and Barca play. I am not Spanish, obviously, so I think it removes a bit of the emotion for me which I think can be a good thing as it means my focus is all on the football. For me anyway it helps to manage emotions within the game.”
With Arsenal selling out their stadium for the Champions League semi-final and Wembley sold out for the women’s FA Cup final which boasted a record 77,000 crowd, Weir has also maintained that Scotland needs to do more to grow the game and sustain its profile.
“We are not at a stage where we are selling out games but it takes time,” she said. “We are still playing catch-up. But that argument irritates me [that games should not be played at the national stadium because they don’t sell out]. People forget that women’s football was actually banned for a long time.”
Caroline Weir was speaking as she was announced as the Glen’s SFWA Women’s International Player of the Year
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