the video
aitana bonmati x barca femeni x barca!reader
summary: on international break- a video circulates online that will cause your girlfriend, and club teammates, to be concerned
warnings: mentions of abuse, angst
on international break, you clashed with your coach over a situation.
you’ve realized that your national team coach was being overly aggressive towards some of the younger players– the 18 to 22 year old ones.
as the captain, you gave them a safe space to talk to you about it. you had the platform– as a 2020 ballon d’or winner, and 2 time champions league winner– to speak up about any situation that is bothering you.
even if that might piss off the “higher ups” of your national team.
after seeing your coach nearly scream, not yell, but scream at one of the youngsters on the team for not making a header during an international friendly.. you had enough.
you pulled your coach to the side and confronted him at halftime.
“hey, why did you scream at her over the failed set piece? its her debut?”
“don’t question me about my corrections.” he mumbled, looking away from you and waving at another staff member yards away.
“i will! you can’t scream at the players about their mistakes, it's affecting the team chemistry and they need to be nurtured into having experience– not screamed at. you can see that they’re SCARED to even come to training because of this.” you snapped.
this has happened for long enough.
little did you know, a few people in the distance were recording this interaction between your coach and you.
what shocked them was when the coach grabbed your arm, aggressively, and pulled you close to him so you’re just 3 feet from the left side of his body.
he squeezed your arm, purposely, which caused your face to squeeze as his physical assault caught you off guard.
“listen, you do NOT question me about my coaching! maybe if she scored that, she wouldn’t have been punished!” he said through clenched teeth, staring at you with darkened eyes and a vein nearly popping out of his forehead.
realizing that you wouldn’t let him do this to you, you smacked his hand off of your arm and sprinted off– completely shocked that he would do that to you.
the people who recorded the interaction sent the video to all news publications afterwards– the new york times, bbc, foxsports, tmz, 433– you name it.
at the end of the game, where you were benched after that confrontation before the start of the second half, everyone booed the coach.
everyone was confused– even you. at first, you assumed that your own country was booing you guys. that didn’t make sense– you guys won 3-2.
once you guys were in the dressing room, all of the fifa officials took your coach away to talk to him.
you had no idea that people recorded that assault that happened to you. some of your teammates noticed the red mark on your arm and the quietness of your voice– so they figured it had to do with the coach.
“y/n..” you turn around to see the young midfielder behind you with a sad smile.
the same 17 year old girl you defended after she was screamed over a missed header.
“hey! congrats on today.” you pulled her into a soft hug, rubbed her upper back before pulling away.
“thank you.” she smiled.
you couldn’t resent her for the moment between the coach and you– he is the problem not her.
when the national team got on the bus, the coach wasn’t there. the nice assistant coach (who has fallen to the main coaches abuse too) took his place.
your eyebrows knitted together as you saw a notification from your barcelona teammate and close friend– alexia.
ale
WHAT THE FUCK?
ale
are you okay?!!
y/n
i am?
y/n
what's going on!?
ale
there’s a video on the internet
alex
instagram.com/justwomensports….
when you clicked on the link, your face turned pale.
many people have recorded the moment between the coach and you from hours before.
you looked strong at first, until he grabbed your arm. the terrified look on your face was present until you smacked his arm away.
to say that the media was in an outrage– that would be an understatement.
almost every news publication has posted about it. there was no possible way that the coach wouldn’t be sacked for the amount of negative attention this has brought.
you didn’t want to imagine how aitana, your girlfriend, is reacting to the situation– as she keeps calling you over-and-over again.
y/n
tana, i’ll call you once i’m back in the hotel. i will explain.
aitana
i should kill him
aitana
are you okay mi amor?
y/n
i don’t know
y/n
i think my mind is trying to supress it, but i can’t explain how i feel
aitana
please call me asap
when you clicked off of your imessages– mapi texted you in the groupchat between ingrid, her, and you.
mapi
y/n are you active?
y/n
yes, hi!
mapi
do you want me to kill that pos?
you giggle at the message- not because you want to see him dead- but the barcelona girls have their extreme way with defending their loved ones.
ingrid
maybe you shouldn’t threaten ppl mapi
ingrid
especially not now
ingrid
y/n please tell me you’re okay
mapi
or will be okay?
y/n
i don’t know how to feel about it
y/n
it happened so fast
y/n
i think my brain isn’t trying to process it. i’m scared
ingrid
call aitana
y/n
i am once i’m back in the hotel, i’m on the bus with the team right now.
after turning your phone off and looking at your phone, your national teammates on the bus were very quiet.
as they’re scrolling on their phones– they’re understanding why the mean coach isn’t on the bus anymore.
your best friend on your national team taps your shoulder and you look over at her, seeing that she finished watching the video.
“WHAT THE FUCK?” she mumbles very quietly as she gives you a heartbroken look.
“when did this happen?” she asked.
“at halftime, remember when i had to pull him outside of the dressing room to talk to him..” you say.
your best friend frowns before pulling your head into her body for a hug.
“is this why you were benched once the game started again?” she whispers.
“i believe so.”
one thing that everyone knew– your girlfriend in spain wasn’t going to let *that* slide.
the next day-- your 2023 ballon d’or winner girlfriend scored a goal in a game against another country.. she held up two fingers on her left hand and one finger on her right, dedicating her golozo for you. since you wore the number 12 on your club and national teams.
next, an important post on instagram spoke up about abuse in the community. a post that went viral alongside your situation.
aitana was quick to repost it on her story– bringing more support for you as you struggled with that traumatic moment.
before you came back to barcelona a week later, you told the “higher-ups” of your national team that if your coach stays, you would retire from international football.
you are 24 years old, so that is an extreme ultimatum.
they couldn’t afford to lose you, one of the best players in the world.
the coach was sacked, charged for assault, and you are happy about it.
in barcelona, most of the girls came to your apartment to comfort you.
alexia, her girlfriend olga, ingrid, mapi, esmee, fridolina, patri, caroline, marta, and jana were all there to give you support.
you cried for the first time about it since the incident occurred. never in your life were you treated that way.
once the girls left your house hours later, aitana stayed. well– you guys lived together so it wasn’t an option for her to leave.
with aitana, you told more details about the things you’ve seen the coach do to the team. the way he ruined the chemistry and motivation of the girls is something you’re prepared to fix with the new coach coming onto the national team.
she cuddles you and plays with your hair as you talk. refusing to leave your side for a while.
the spanish national team had their own problems, which you know about, so aitana is able to help you as you help her through her problems too.
aitana and your club teammates vows to never let someone hurt you like that again.
authors note: this has been in my drafts for over a month.
my master list is linked here if you want to read more fics <3
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