Ewa Pajor: ‘Sometimes I’m at home and it’s like: wow I play for Barcelona’ | OneFootball

There is a sense of familiarity to Wednesday’s Women’s Champions League quarter-final between Barcelona and Wolfsburg, but with one decisive change. The two met in the 2023 final in Eindhoven with Ewa Pajor scoring for Wolfsburg after three minutes. This time, though, she will line up for the Blaugrana.

Barcelona swooped to sign the Poland international last summer after nine seasons, 196 matches and 136 goals in Germany and the goals have not dried up. The striker has already won one trophy and scored 34 goals in 32 matches in all competitions.

Pajor is the top scorer of Liga F with 17 goals, five clear of Granada’s Edna Imade. The 28-year-old is a killer finisher who now needs to deliver a blow to the club that put her on the biggest stage. “I was at Wolfsburg for a very long time,” says Pajor with a smile. “But when Barcelona came and said they want me to be part of this team, I just said ‘wow, OK, this is Barcelona’. I felt very comfortable and at home in Wolfsburg, but when Barcelona called there was no doubt.”

In the 2023 final, Pajor also contributed an assist to put Wolfsburg 2-0 up, but it was not enough, with Barcelona coming back to win 3-2. The decisive goal was scored by Fridolina Rolfö, a former Wolfsburg player.

Pajor is one of four former Wolfsburg players representing Barcelona this season, along with Caroline Graham Hansen, Ingrid Engen and Rolfö. It was comforting for Pajor to be met by familiar faces, especially as adapting to the Barcelona style of play was anything but easy.

“It helps to play with the type of players who are here, it makes scoring goals easier,” Pajor says. “I played with Caro, Frido and Ingrid before so it was easier for me. I played with Caro for three or four years at Wolfsburg and we developed a connection on the pitch.

“I can improve so much here because the style at this club is very different to Wolfsburg. I’m becoming a better player every day in training and matches. I am happy because of that, I want to get better every day.”

Wolfsburg’s counter-pressing style is very different to Barcelona’s tiki-taka. In addition, what has changed for Pajor is the space available to run into. “In Wolfsburg we had more behind the defenders, but here, in almost every match, we don’t have any space behind their defensive line,” she says while drawing a picture with her fingers on the bench.

“For me it’s a new challenge. Barcelona play so well with the ball. When I speak with Alexia [Putellas] or Aitana [Bonmatí] in training they tell me that when they see the ball coming they don’t think where they want to play, they make that decision before they even receive the ball.

“Once they have the ball, they know exactly what they want to do and that benefits everyone. Barcelona players learn early. Alexia learned that when she was probably 10 and she doesn’t have to think; it’s innate for her. Our rivals usually play really low against us, but in one way I have more space because my team moves the ball quicker and I can be in on goal after just one touch.”

It is not only Liga F and the Champions League on Pajor’s radar, having also guided Poland to their first European Championship, to be played in Switzerland in the summer. Poland is still a growing footballing country, where female players have to leave their home at an early age to play at an elite level.

“I hope this success for the national team makes an impact,” she says. “The senior team is going to the Euros and the Under-17 side played in the World Cup for the first time. This kind of success will help improve football at home. More and more girls are playing the game, which means we will get more academies and more teams.

“I want football in Poland to be professional like here in Spain or in Germany in two to three years. We have potential and I think we will only get better .”

The country has two football heroes in Pajor and Robert Lewandowski, both playing for Barcelona and the top scorers in their leagues. International successes is rare for Poland, but they have two leaders on the world stage showing the talent that can come out of their country. “Sometimes I’m at home and it’s like wow: ‘I play for Barcelona and now we’re going to the Euros with the national team and now it’s all really good’, but I want to improve myself and I want more than that.”

Pajor has a new opportunity to test herself with the first game against WolfsburgWednesday, followed by the return leg in Barcelona on 27 March “I hope we can win these two games and that, match by match, we end up in Lisbon,” she says. “For me, winning the Champions League, it’s the big dream.”

Header image: [Photograph: Jordi Matas/The Guardian]