Fridolina Rolfo’s injury diary: ‘I needed help the whole time, I was struggling mentally’

Fridolina Rolfo saw her shot go into the back of the net in Eindhoven and went wild. She spread her arms wide as she ran to celebrate scoring the goal that gave Barcelona their second Champions League title.

“It was the best moment of my life,” the 30-year-old Rolfo tells The Athletic, thinking back to a dramatic comeback 3-2 victory over Wolfsburg in the final in June 2023. “That was one of my biggest dreams.”

What few knew was that her smile camouflaged a deep pain.

The Swede was voted the fourth-best player in the world later that year. It was a reward for her role in that Champions League success and in helping her country finish third at the Women’s World Cup — things she achieved while nursing a knee injury that had troubled her for most of the year.

She underwent surgery on the meniscus in her right knee on September 8, shortly after returning from the tournament in Australia and New Zealand and spent the next six months recovering.

The Athletic has spent time with her during the recovery process, conducting interviews at key moments during her rehabilitation, detailing how one of the world’s best players returned to the pinnacle of the game — she is likely to feature for Barcelona in their Champions League quarter-final against Brann tonight (Wednesday) — after barely being able to walk not so long ago.

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It is December 12 and I meet Rolfo in a cafe on the left side of Barcelona’s Eixample, close to one of her favourite places in the city, Montjuic mountain. It couldn’t be more fitting: modern with a Nordic aesthetic.

After undergoing surgery at the beginning of September, Rolfo started using crutches to get around. She has only been off them for a few days, but she still appears with a smile which she barely loses.

“I was not able to walk and for the first time I was on crutches for eight weeks,” she said.

“I was struggling putting on my clothes. Showering was also a big problem, I had to sit down and I needed a chair in the shower.

“That was a long time. It was not easy and I needed help the whole time. I’m someone who doesn’t like to ask for help, so mentally I was struggling a lot. I was not able to step on my leg and I was jumping around because I was so frustrated. In the end, I was so tired. I couldn’t use my other leg because I’d been jumping too much.”

It was at this stage she realised how much free time she would have.

“I’m really active and if I was just sitting on the sofa and watching TV all day I was going to be depressed, so I tried to be more active. I knew it was the most important thing for my mental wellbeing. I knew that would be the biggest struggle for me, so I told myself I wasn’t going to be someone who sits inside and doesn’t do anything.”

It proved key to her recovery.

“I think some people who saw me around on the street were thinking, ‘Why is she going with a crutch down to the beach and jumping in the sand?’. It’s pretty crazy. I went up to the mountains jumping a lot on my crutches. When I was done with that part of my rehab and I returned them to the club, the people were like, ‘OK, we can see those have been used!’.

“I think this made it easier for me to continue my rehab because I was feeling OK mentally.”

During this time, she came to value conversations with a psychologist.

“When I was struggling and not having an easy time, that’s when I realised I need people around me,” she says. “You need support and I had it from my partner, which was amazing. But sometimes, you want the rest of your family there as well and it’s not so easy. Sweden is far away and they are working and doing their things.

“October and November were definitely my toughest months in the process. I was struggling a lot, I had a tough time. I knew there were so many months left and that I had to still work on my strength and I was at the gym for so many hours every day.

“I was so far away from playing football. I missed being competitive in training; this was something completely different for me. I was not able to have my team-mates around me. I tried to find those small things that made me more motivated in the gym to get more muscles and get stronger and reach my goals.”

During her gym time, she began to feel a little more optimistic and described December as the calmest she felt at any point in the process.

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In this next phase of the process, she leaned heavily on those around her. Her physiotherapist, Xavi, listened every day and accompanied her on the journey, slowing her down when she got impatient and when she wanted to bring the deadline for her recovery forward.

“I have good people around me who help me with this part because I’m not the one who knows everything,” she says. “Sometimes they have to stop me because I’m begging, ‘Please, can we take the next step?’. If I didn’t have them, I would be injured again.”

In the gym, she met many members of the Barcelona futsal team, who were also recovering from their injuries. She especially connected with one of them: Sergio Lozano, with whom she struck up a friendship. He would later watch her return to action from the stands.

Lozano is the team captain and has had four operations on the same right knee in the past eight years. At 35, he has returned to the court, showing an example of not giving up and continuing to fight.

Alexia Putellas, with whom she shared part of her road to recovery, was one of several team-mates who supported her.

During this period, there were important matches. She had to powerlessly watch on as her team-mates won the Clasico against Real Madrid (5-0) in Montjuic, played decisive Champions League games and won the Spanish Super Cup against Levante (7-0).

“I’m trying to say to myself: ‘It is not possible for me to play at the moment’,” she says. “Because if not, maybe I get emotional and feel like, ‘F***, I would love to be there’. But it’s not possible. I’m trying to close my feelings some days because, if not, it won’t work.

“You see a lot more when you’re in the stands instead of on the field. Now I can see details about players, how they’re reacting or how they behave and all these things. And it’s all so interesting. You get to know your team-mates in another way. It’s interesting to learn more about the team from this side.”

Feeling better and more mobile, Rolfo starts to explore outside the city. She usually walks on a small mountain near her home but also likes to explore Montjuic or Montserrat, even if it is a bit further away from the city of Barcelona. Rolfo also likes to head to Andorra, where she feels closer to Sweden because of the mountain scenery, the snow and the colder climate.

Rolfo likes to do creative things when she is not thinking about football, such as cooking and painting.

“My grandpa was an artist and my dad is also doing a little,” she says. “I grew up in a family that loves to be creative. I would love to be good at painting but I think I’m better at playing football.”

Injuries are a time for reflection. I ask her about her start to life in Barcelona and her adaptation to the culture, having moved from Wolfsburg in Germany in July 2021.

“It was really tough in the beginning. I was playing in Germany for many years and the football there is different: it’s a lot about your physicality and you’re running a lot. And also it’s really strict. You have to follow the rules, you have to do like everyone else. Then I came to Spain and it’s more relaxed, it’s completely different.

“Then the football… it was really hard for me at the beginning in Barcelona because the level of the team was so good. So I was struggling a lot. I felt I wasn’t good enough for this team.

“But what a chance in my life to develop and get better. Even though I felt like s*** in training, I wanted to get better. Eventually, I felt like, ‘Wow, now I can do it’.”

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The good weather is starting to arrive in Barcelona. It is almost the end of January and spring is not too far away — and with it the return of Rolfo. The forward has already started work with the ball and soon will be training with the team.

“The best moments of the process are now,” she says, with a glint in her eye. “I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and it’s getting closer. I feel like I’m almost there. I need a little bit more, but it’s really close. So at the moment, I’m enjoying everything I’m doing, those small steps that I’m taking in every training session. It makes me so happy. It’s working really well so far and everything is going as planned.”

So, as her return approaches, what has she learned, and is there any fear of a recurrence of the injury?

“I need to listen and be careful with my body so I don’t get anything else,” she says. “The muscles are doing different kinds of movements. I know my body really well and I have to not push myself too much to go over the limits.

“I’ve learned more about my body but also the mental part, getting motivated by having goals to aim for, even though they were small or they were different from what I’m used to — like lifting some more kilos or learning how to walk from the beginning.”

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A year after the pain started, her journey is complete. It is March 14 and, in the 66th minute of Barcelona’s Copa de la Reina semi-final second leg against Athletic Club, the board on the touchline shows the number 15 in red and the number 16 in green, while over the PA system, the speaker announces: Fridolina Rolfo replaces Lucy Bronze.

For Rolfo, this is a major milestone, her first home appearance since April 27, 2023. That day she had played in a Women’s Champions League semi-final against Chelsea, a 1-1 draw that secured Barca’s place in the final.

Back then, she had been at the top of her game, scoring 12 goals and providing 10 assists. She was a key piece in the best Barcelona team ever and was also one of the biggest stars for Sweden.

When she first felt the pain, her immediate concern was making the Champions League final, having been on the losing side on two previous appearances in the showpiece event.

“I knew my meniscus was not feeling good and I had to have surgery,” Rolfo explains. “I didn’t know exactly when, but I knew sooner or later I would have to do it.”

That she made last year’s final and went on to impress while helping Sweden to third place in the Women’s World Cup is a testament to her strength of character.

“I played the World Cup with all this pain… I was suffering,” she says.

“The surgery that followed was a little bit of a release because finally I could feel good again, and my body could feel normal again. I hadn’t felt like that for a long time.”

On her return to playing in Barcelona, she helped the team qualify for the final of the Copa de la Reina, which will be played on May 18.

At the end of the match, Putellas embraces Rolfo and they put their faces together, holding their heads in their hands and smiling as if to say, “We did it, we’re back!”.

Rolfo takes pictures with her companions, with those who had helped her on that long road.

I look at her and ask: “So, what about now?”

“I’m very happy.”

 (Top photo: Ion Alcoba Beitia/Getty Images)