The duel between Levante and Atlético de Madrid at the Ciutat on 18 May 2019 will be associated with the eternal memory of Pedro López. And perhaps all the memories experienced first-hand on the pitch will defy the passage of time to size. That day marked the captain’s formal farewell to the Levante environment after eight intertwined exercises full of emotions of very different kinds. The confrontation coincided with the farewell of the season. The event gave off an unmistakable aroma of homage.
It was his last appearance in the Granota jersey, but it was not his last act of service from a competitive point of view defending the blaugrana crest. That image will be associated with the previous week’s fight in Girona. The events came to a head at the Montilivi stadium with the match in its nascent stages. Toño García’s injury altered Paco López’s plans. The captain came off the bench to join a match with the label of definitive. It was a hyperbolic clash in the fight for survival. Barely had the opening minutes gone by when he was deployed on the right-hand side of the back line in order to block the home side’s onslaught.
Pedro’s record had been fallow in the previous days. His trace on the green had faded. The moment was supreme. The season in ninety passionate minutes. The profession of footballer demands quality responses at very precise moments. The past does not count. The boots that illustrate this document were anchored to the turf of the Montilivi Stadium. They condense the story of the 2018-2019 exercise. The match seemed to call for intensity and a degree of responsibility that the captain did not shirk. Inactivity was not an inconvenience. Perhaps it was an incentive to vindicate his character and his commitment in the context of a vital and superlative duel for the future of the Orriols institution.
The defender took up the challenge and showed his gallantry. His subversive spirit materialised just a minute after Stuani’s goal as the game entered the second half. The defender rode down the right flank to make contact with Morales. The captains signed the redemption. From their imagination and complicity the rescue was born. His boots projected a silky and millimetric service that the Comandante did not miss to sign the draw with a diabolical header. It was the beginning of a First Division comeback that the captain celebrated.