Sydney Schertenleib has won everything there is to win with Barcelona this season. Nevertheless, the 19-year-old is not entirely satisfied with the 2025/26 season. She would have hoped for more playing time.
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- Sydney Schertenleib has won all four possible titles with Barcelona this season, including the Champions League.
- Nevertheless, the 19-year-old is not completely satisfied as she would have hoped for more playing time.
- At the beginning of the season, she also suffered from an iron deficiency. All in all, however, it has been "a very successful season" for her.
Barcelona is the measure of all things in women's football. This season, the Catalans have once again played the competition into the ground. In the league, the Barça women have won 29 out of 30 games with a goal difference of 130:9. The only defeat (0:1) was on November 2, 2025 away against Real Sociedad.
Goalscorer Edna Imade, who moved to Bayern Munich in the winter, later got her revenge. Barça eliminated the German champions in the Champions League semi-final. However, Schertenleib did not play in these two games, nor later in the 4:0 gala in the final against OL Lyonnes. Schertenleib also made only brief appearances in the Copa de la Reina and the Supercopa Feminina in the most important matches.
Iron deficiency was a problem for Schertenleib
"It was a very successful season for me," said Schertenleib at a national team press conference on Tuesday ahead of the two World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Northern Ireland. However, the 19-year-old is not completely satisfied: "I think I imagined things differently at the start of the season. I thought I might have a bit more playing time. But of course I also know which team I'm playing in and what kind of rivals I have."
She therefore had to "fight her way through" a bit. "But all in all, I'm very happy, even with all the trophies I've won. I don't think it's a matter of course to win everything at 19." And Schertenleib admits that she "didn't train so well at the start of the season".
The reason: "I had an iron deficiency and I couldn't always give 100 percent in training. That lasted two or three months." She didn't always consume enough iron during the summer vacations. "That wasn't ideal for me, but I learned from it and now I'll definitely take my iron during the summer vacations."
Putellas' departure as an opportunity for Schertenleib
Despite everything, Schertenleib has not played very little. After all, she played in 41 games. She has also played eight games with the national team, where she is an undisputed regular. And her situation at Barça could also improve very soon, as club legend Alexia Putellas, two-time world footballer and world champion, is leaving FC Barcelona after 14 years.
"I think we will miss her a lot," says the national team ace. "Not only on the pitch, but also off it. She was always there for every single player. And of course she's a huge role model for me, the way she always gave everything on the pitch and as a person simply wanted to help every player." She only wishes her the best. But of course, "a gap has now opened up for me or other midfielders". If she manages to bring her potential to the pitch, then she also has a good chance of playing.
When asked whether she never gets bored at Barça due to the sheer superiority, she says: "Not boring, because every game is different. And it actually makes you stronger because we play against teams that play very deep. We have to play in tight spaces, defend the ball better and play faster." And in the Champions League in particular, there are of course teams that attack higher up the pitch. "And that's why it never really gets boring."
After the two World Cup qualifiers against Malta and Northern Ireland, she is looking forward to her vacations. But she can't do without football there either. "Funnily enough, I'm going on vacation to Vancouver, so I'm also going to watch the Swiss World Cup match against Canada."
