Alexia Putellas Segura (

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

: Alèxia Putellas i Segura, ; born 4 February 1994) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

, which she

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

, and the Spain national team. She previously played for

Espanyol Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish football league sy ...

and Levante, and has represented

Catalonia Catalonia (; ca, Catalunya ; Aranese Occitan: ''Catalonha'' ; es, Cataluña ) is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy. Most of the territory (except the Val d'Aran) lies on the north ...

. Having won all major club and individual awards available to a European player by 2022, she is widely regarded as the best contemporary female footballer in the world, and one of the greatest of all time. Putellas has played for Barcelona since 2012, after spending most of her youth career in the ranks of Espanyol. With Barcelona, she has won six league titles, seven Copas de la Reina, and one

UEFA Women's Champions League The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

title. In Barcelona's 2020–21 season, she played an essential role as her team won the Champions League as well as the resulting continental treble, both for the first time in their history. Putellas then went on to win the

UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award The UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award (previously known as the UEFA Best Women's Player in Europe Award) is an association football award given to the female footballer that is considered the best player playing for a women's football club in ...

, the

Ballon d'Or Féminin The Ballon d'Or Féminin (), also known as the Women's Ballon d'Or, is an association football award presented by '' France Football'' that honours the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous season. It was first awarded in 20 ...

, and

The Best FIFA Women's Player The Best FIFA Women's Player is a football award presented annually by the sport's governing body, FIFA, since 2016, to honour the player deemed to have performed the best over the previous calendar year. From 2001 to 2015, the award was know ...

in 2021, becoming the first player to win all three in the same year. In 2022, despite missing the

UEFA Women's Euro 2022 The 2022 UEFA European Women's Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Women's Euro 2022 or simply Euro 2022, was the 13th edition of the UEFA Women's Championship, the quadrennial international football championship organised by UE ...

due to injury, she won the UEFA Women's Player of the Year Award and the Ballon d'Or Féminin, each for a second consecutive year, making her the first woman to do so. On the international stage, Putellas had success with Spain's youth national teams, winning two UEFA Women's U-17 Euros (in

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

and

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

) as well as finishing second place in the 2012 UEFA Women's U-19 Euro. She made her debut for Spain's senior national team in 2013, and has since featured in three major international competitions with the team: Spain's

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior women's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association ( FIFA), the sport's international governing bo ...

debut in

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

, the 2017 UEFA Women's Euro, and the 2019 World Cup. As of 2022, Putellas has the second-most all-time appearances for Barcelona behind former left back Melanie Serrano, and is currently their second-highest all-time scorer behind former striker

Jennifer Hermoso Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes (born 9 May 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Liga MX Femenil club CF Pachuca and for the Spain women's national team. She is the all-time top scorer for both Barcelona and Spain. Hermoso deve ...

. She also holds the record of most appearances for Spain with 100 caps, having surpassed

Marta Torrejón Marta Torrejón Moya (; born 27 February 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defender for FC Barcelona. She formerly captained the Spain national team, making 90 appearances and scoring 8 goals. Club career Torrejón deb ...

's previous record of 90 caps in 2021.

Early life and education

Alexia Putellas Segura was born on 4 February 1994, to Jaume Putellas Rota and Elisabet "Eli" Segura Sabaté in

Mollet del Vallès Mollet del Vallès () is a municipality in the ''comarca'' of the Vallès Oriental in Catalonia, Spain. It is situated in the valley of the Besòs river, and is an important communications hub from Barcelona towards the north: the AP-7 Motorwa ...

, a municipality in the

province of Barcelona Barcelona (, ) is a province of eastern Spain, in the center of the autonomous community of Catalonia. The province is bordered by the provinces of Tarragona, Lleida, and Girona, and by the Mediterranean Sea. Its area is . She has a younger sister, Alba. Putellas has been a supporter of

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly referred to as Barcelona and colloquially known as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded ...

since her early childhood and would travel with the ''Penya'' of Mollet del Vallès to watch matches at the Camp Nou with her father. She would also watch Barcelona matches at a local bar, La Bolera, with her family; she has said that her family have always been fanatic supporters of the club, with the exception of a cousin who supports

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

. Despite being born into a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

-playing family, Putellas first began playing club football in 2001 at seven years old. Having played basketball as well as hockey and tennis, she began playing football at school, with her mother allowing her to join a football team on the condition she stop playing at school, though she continued. Putellas interpreted her mother's request as a reflection of

machismo Machismo (; ; ; ) is the sense of being " manly" and self-reliant, a concept associated with "a strong sense of masculine pride: an exaggerated masculinity". Machismo is a term originating in the early 1930s and 1940s best defined as hav ...

, specifically prejudice towards girls playing football, in society, saying that her family themselves always accepted her ambitions. She enjoyed football at school, where she was either the one choosing football teams or got picked first, but knows women who felt sidelined by peers for wanting to participate. A mature and reserved but not shy child, Putellas showed leadership qualities from a young age. Her first club was the local CF Mollet UE boys' team; she only had three training sessions there, leaving as she did not like the atmosphere and soon after joining the

Sabadell Sabadell () is a city in Catalonia, Spain. It is in the south of the ''comarca'' of Vallès Occidental and its joint capital (co-capital), on the River Ripoll, north of Barcelona. Sabadell is located above sea level. Sabadell pioneered the Ind ...

girls' team. Deciding to undertake a

degree Degree may refer to: As a unit of measurement * Degree (angle), a unit of angle measurement ** Degree of geographical latitude ** Degree of geographical longitude * Degree symbol (°), a notation used in science, engineering, and mathematics ...

due to a lack of professionalism in Spanish women's football, Putellas began studying Business Administration and Management at the

Pompeu Fabra University Pompeu Fabra University ( ca, Universitat Pompeu Fabra, UPF, ; es, link=no, Universidad Pompeu Fabra) is a public university located in the city of Barcelona, Catalonia in Spain. The university was created by the Autonomous Government of Catalo ...

in Barcelona in 2013, later taking a break from her studies to focus on football.

Club career

Sabadell, youth

When she was seven, Putellas began playing for Sabadell, being enrolled through a family friend who played for the club, where she first played with Vicky Losada and

Marta Corredera Marta Corredera Rueda (born 8 August 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger or right wing-back for Primera División club Real Madrid CF and the Spain women's national team. Rueda formerly represented FC Barcelona ...

. Despite being several years younger than some of her teammates, Putellas was made one of the team captains. Sabadell was the only nearby club that had a women's section. Though the women's team flourished during the period Putellas was with them, the girls' team was not a priority, and it was difficult for Putellas and her family to manage her training there as a child. She gave an interview in 2004, aged 10, admitting that when she had been younger she did not always like football; by this age, she was playing it religiously and taking charge of boys' games.

Barcelona La Masia, 2005–06

In 2005, Putellas spent a year in

La Masia La Masia de Can Planes, usually shortened to La Masia (; en, "The Farmhouse"), is a term used for FC Barcelona's youth academy. The academy includes more than 300 young players. It has been an instrumental factor in Barcelona's European success ...

, Barcelona's youth academy. Joining

was her dream, but she had to leave when the women's system was restructured and there was no team for her age group; Xavi Llorens, who became manager in 2006, reflected that he always expected Putellas to return, "it was just a matter of waiting for the right time". Many of the displaced players joined the other Barcelona team,

, which Putellas did when she was twelve.

Espanyol

Youth, 2006–10

She joined the Espanyol girls' team when she was twelve.

Senior, 2010–11

Putellas made her senior team debut with Espanyol when she was sixteen years old. She was a part of the Espanyol squad that won the 2010 Copa de la Reina in a 3–1 win vs

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid, in the neighbourhood of Vallecas. Rayo was founded on 29 May 1924, and currently compete in La Lig ...

. In 2011, she started in the final of the

Copa de la Reina Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Computer Operator Programming Assistant. trade of ITI * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Ass ...

for Espanyol, where they lost 0–1 in extra time against Barcelona. Putellas' performances with Espanyol identified her as one of Spain's best young players.

Levante, 2011–12

Already a star in the fledgling women's football world in Spain after her success with the youth national team, Putellas attracted attention when she moved to Valencian club Levante at the age of seventeen, only a month after the 2011 Copa de la Reina final. Levante did not compete in the 2012 Copa de la Reina due to failing to qualify in the previous season, but had numerous Spain football veterans and a professional environment, unusual at the time, which is said to have contributed to Putellas' individual growth. Individually, she had a successful 2011–2012 campaign, scoring 15 goals in 34 matches (playing all matches in the season) and finishing as Levante's top scorer. At Levante, she was coached in how to play off the ball, developing technical and tactical skills like a midfielder, and to become capable with both feet after the coach, Antonio Contreras, felt she was too reliant on her left. He also described her as a very classy and intelligent player already.

Barcelona

2012–13

RCDE 2 - 0 FCB - Flickr - Xavi Fotos (9)

Llorens and Barcelona had continued to follow Putellas' career after she left La Masia and in the summer of 2012, following her breakthrough year with Levante and the death of her father, approached her to rejoin the club. She accepted the offer, and started and played most of Barcelona's matches that season. Because of Barcelona's first-ever league title win in the previous season, they were set to make their debut in the 2012–13 UEFA Women's Champions League. On 26 September 2013, Putellas started in her

debut against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, where they lost 0–3 at home. In the away leg, Barcelona lost 0–4, and exited their tournament debut in the

Round of 32 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. On 4 May 2013, Putellas won her first

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

title with the club when Barcelona won 2–1 against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional Association football, football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country (autonomous com ...

. The match, played at the San Mamés with 25,000 spectators, is remembered by Putellas as one of her favorite matches of her career because it "made her feel like a footballer." In the 2013 final of the

, she scored Barcelona's third goal versus Prainsa Zaragoza, where she dribbled past two Zaragoza defenders, past their keeper, and poked the ball into the net. The goal went viral and attracted more attention for Putellas from Spanish and international media. Barcelona won 4–0, the first domestic

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

in their history. Putellas, playing as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

, was chosen as MVP of the Copa de la Reina final for her performance.

2013–14

Putellas won her second consecutive

title with Barcelona after the team went unbeaten throughout 27 rounds. Putellas was also an integral part of Barcelona's 2014 Copa de la Reina campaign, scoring in each round of the knockout stage. Barcelona advanced past the quarterfinals against

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

with an aggregate score of 1–0, a Putellas goal in the away leg being the tie decider. In the home leg of the semifinals, she scored in a 2–1 Barcelona home win versus Rayo Vallecano. That tie would end up finishing 3–1, propelling the team to the final against Athletic Bilbao. Putellas scoring an outside-the-box goal in extra time of the final meant a penalty shootout for Barcelona, where she scored the game-winning fifth penalty and earned her fifth major club trophy. She was named MVP of the Copa de la Reina for the second season in a row.

2014–15

Putellas scored her first ever Champions League goal in the

of the 2014–15 UEFA Women's Champions League against

Czech Czech may refer to: * Anything from or related to the Czech Republic, a country in Europe ** Czech language ** Czechs, the people of the area ** Czech culture ** Czech cuisine * One of three mythical brothers, Lech, Czech, and Rus' Places * Czech, ...

side

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in ...

. Barcelona advanced after defeating Slavia Prague on a 4-0 aggregate score, but failed to get past

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, losing 1–2 on aggregate in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

. Putellas won her third league title with the club after Barcelona were crowned champions in April 2015.

2015–16

Alexia Putellas (FCB - Athletic Club 2016)

Putellas missed Barcelona's first UEFA Women's Champions League match of the 2015–16 season against

BIIK Kazygurt BIIK Shymkent ( kk, БИІК-Қазығұрт, BİIK-Qazyğūrt) is a women's football club based in Shymkent, Kazakhstan competing in the Kazakhstani Championship. Formerly established in Almaty as Alma-KTZh, the team won five championships in a ...

, which ended in a 1–1 draw. She returned the following match, assisting

against the Kazakh side in a 4–0 win. She scored the first four-goal game of her career in 2015, in a 10–0 win against

Fundación Albacete Fundación Albacete is the women's football section of Albacete Balompié. Founded in 2004 they reached the Spanish league's top division in 2014. History Fundación Albacete was founded in 1997 with the aim to promote sport, education and cu ...

. In the quarterfinals of the 2016 Copa de la Reina, Putellas scored a brace and gave an assist to Míriam Diéguez in a 5–1 win against Real Sociedad, sending the ''blaugranas'' to the semifinal. She finished her season as Barcelona's second-highest goalscorer in the league with 18 goals.

2016–17

In February 2017, Putellas was named as a candidate for the FIFPro Women's World XI for the first time, where she was listed amongst the forwards. In the 2016–2017 season, Barcelona reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Champions League for the first time in the club's history. They were knocked out 5–1 on aggregate by

Paris Saint Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club (), commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain, Paris, Paris SG or simply PSG is a professional football club based in Paris, France. They compete in Ligue 1, the top division of French football. As ...

, where Putellas started both matches. On 18 June 2017, Putellas won her third Copa de la Reina with the club when she scored in the 2017 Copa de la Reina final in a 4–1 win against

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

2017–18

On 2 October 2017, Putellas wore the captain's band for the first time at Barcelona in a match against Santa Teresa, after all four of the club's captains were either benched or not selected in that matchday squad. Putellas was Barcelona's sole scorer in both legs of the 2018 Copa de la Reina quarterfinal, scoring both match-winners against Levante to bring Barcelona to the semifinals. After advancing past Athletic Bilbao in the semifinals, Barcelona made it to the final where they won 1–0 over Atlético Madrid late in extra time.

2018–19

In the 2018–2019 season, Putellas was named as Barcelona's fourth captain, the first official captaincy role of her senior career. In the first match of that season's Champions League, Putellas conceded an

own goal An own goal, also called a self goal, is where a player performs actions that result in them or their team scoring a goal on themselves, often resulting in a point for the opposing team, such as when a football player kicks a ball into their own ...

as Barcelona fell in a 3–1 shock defeat to BIIK Kazygurt. They came back from that loss to win 3–0 at home, and ended up advancing to the semifinals for the second time in club history. Putellas started both games versus

Bayern Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

, where Barcelona won 2–0 on aggregate. On 18 May 2019, Putellas started in Barcelona's first ever UWCL final versus

Lyon Lyon,, ; Occitan: ''Lion'', hist. ''Lionés'' also spelled in English as Lyons, is the third-largest city and second-largest metropolitan area of France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of t ...

, who went on to win the match 4–1. Following Barcelona's loss in the final, Putellas was named to the UEFA Women's Champions League Squad of the Season for the first time in her career. Not soon after, she renewed her contract with the club for 3 more seasons to 2022. She ended the season as Barcelona's top scorer in the

with 16 goals and overall with 18 goals.

2019–20

In 2019, Putellas was given second captaincy for the first time at Barcelona after being named as fourth captain in the previous year. For the first few months of the 2019–20 season, she captained the side during Vicky Losada's hamstring injury, but began to start as captain in most matches by default as Losada transitioned to an off-the-bench role. On 7 September 2019, she became the first player to ever score at the

Estadi Johan Cruyff Johan Cruyff Stadium ( Catalan: ''Estadi Johan Cruyff''; Spanish: ''Estadio Johan Cruyff'') is a football stadium operated by FC Barcelona in Sant Joan Despí, Province of Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, located in the Ciutat Esportiva Joan Gamp ...

in a 9–1 win versus Tacón, the team that would later become

. Some days later, Putellas scored Barcelona's first goal of the 2019-20 Champions League campaign, away against

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

. In the home leg, she scored the first ever Champions League goal at the Estadi Johan Cruyff. In February of the following year, she started and captained both legs of the first ever Supercopa de España Femenina. In the final, she scored a

brace Brace(s) or bracing may refer to: Medical * Orthopaedic brace, a device used to restrict or assist body movement ** Back brace, a device limiting motion of the spine *** Milwaukee brace, a kind of back brace used in the treatment of spinal cur ...

in a 10–1 thrashing of Real Sociedad, winning her first major title with the club in two years. Later in the month, she made her 300th appearance for Barcelona against

Sporting Huelva Sporting Club de Huelva is a Spanish women's football club from Huelva, Andalusia. It was founded in Huelva in 2004 as a restructuring of an homonymous junior (men's) football club, which had been founded in 1979 and dissolved nine years later, ...

, the fourth player in Barcelona's history to reach that many appearances after Melanie Serrano, Marta Unzué, and Vicky Losada. She was honored at Estadi Johan Cruyff for the milestone in March. Following the beginning of the

COVID-19 pandemic in Europe The global COVID-19 pandemic arrived in Europe with its first confirmed case in Bordeaux, France, on 24 January 2020, and subsequently spread widely across the continent. By 17 March 2020, every country in Europe had confirmed a case, and all ...

, the 2019-20 league season was suspended, with Barcelona being crowned the winner with 21 out of 32 matchdays played. It was Putellas’ first league title since 2015, and her fourth with the club overall. She ended up contributing 10 goals and 8 assists in 20 league matches. At the end of the season, Putellas was named the best player of the 2019–20 league campaign. Upon the resumption of the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League, Barcelona played Atlético Madrid in the single-legged

quarterfinal A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

, where they won 1–0. Barcelona advanced to the

semifinal A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the competition, where they were knocked out 1–0 by

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg () or Wolfsburg, is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of W ...

. In a post-match interview, when asked about the gap in quality between Barcelona and other elite European teams, Putellas claimed "there is no distance." On the continental stage, Putellas was named as a candidate for the

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs f ...

Women's Team of the Year for 2020. Although the 2019–20 UEFA Women's Champions League was completed, Barcelona were still due to complete the remaining matches of that season's

campaign. Owing to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the semifinals and final of the 2019–20 Copa de la Reina were pushed back to be played during the 2020–21 season. On 13 February 2021, Putellas played the 2020 Copa de la Reina final against

Logroño Logroño () is the capital of the province of La Rioja, situated in northern Spain. Traversed in its northern part by the Ebro River, Logroño has historically been a place of passage, such as the Camino de Santiago. Its borders were disputed b ...

, and drew a penalty which she scored to put Barcelona 1–0 up. Barcelona won the final 3–0, Putellas' fifth Copa de la Reina title with the club.

2020–21

As first captain Vicky Losada continued to be utilized mainly as a substitute at Barcelona, Putellas started matches as captain throughout most of the 2020–21 season. In the first match of the league season, Putellas started the first ever women's ''

El Clásico El Clásico or el clásico (; ca, El Clàssic, ; ) is the name given to any football match between rival clubs FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. Originally referring to competitions held in the Spanish championship, the term now includes every m ...

'' against Real Madrid, where she scored the fourth and final goal of the match. On 6 January 2021, Putellas captained Barcelona against Espanyol, the first time women's teams ever played a competitive match at the Camp Nou. Just before halftime, Putellas scored a header goal off a

corner kick A corner kick is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defending team. The kick is taken ...

from

Caroline Graham Hansen Caroline Graham Hansen (born 18 February 1995) is a Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Spanish Liga F club FC Barcelona and the Norway women's national team. Hansen started out her professional career playing in the ...

, becoming the first female player to score a competitive goal at the stadium. The following week, she played against Atlético Madrid in the semifinal of the 2021 Supercopa de España Femenina, where she scored a free-kick in the 90th minute to tie the match and take it to extra time. Barcelona lost the match on penalties, one of their three losses that season in all competitions. In the second edition of the women's ''El Clásico'', Putellas scored Barcelona's first ever home goal against ''Los Blancos''. That goal was also her 100th goal scored in the league with Barcelona. FCB v Real Sociedad - DSC 1470 (51262554811)

FCB v Real Sociedad - DSC 1470 (51262554811)

In the 2020–21 Champions League, Barcelona advanced to their second ever final. A day prior to the

Champions League final The UEFA Champions League is a seasonal football competition established in 1955. Prior to the 1992–93 season, the tournament was named the European Cup. The UEFA Champions League is open to the league champions of all UEFA (Union of European ...

, Putellas trained separately from the group with her left thigh heavily bandaged due to strain on her hamstring, and was at risk of not starting the final with the status of "doubtful." On 16 May 2021, despite her injury, Putellas started the second Champions League final of her career, this time against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

. After going 1–0 up within 30 seconds, Barcelona were awarded a penalty after

Melanie Leupolz Melanie Leupolz (born 14 April 1994) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Chelsea and the Germany national team. Club career Leupolz started her career with TSV Ratzenried and TSV Tettn ...

made contact with

Jenni Hermoso Jennifer Hermoso Fuentes (born 9 May 1990), known as Jenni Hermoso, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Liga MX Femenil club Tigres UANL and for the Spain women's national team. She is the all-time top scorer for Spain, and was ...

in the box. Putellas scored the penalty to put Barcelona 2–0 up within 13 minutes. In the 20th minute of the match, Putellas sent a through ball into the box towards Aitana Bonmatí, who scored Barcelona's third. The goal was later selected as the fifth-best goal of the competition. Barcelona ended the match winning 4–0, the largest margin of victory in any single-legged UWCL final, and Putellas was selected to that year's UWCL Squad of the Season. Later in the year, she was listed as a nominee to the UEFA Women's Champions League Midfielder of the Season award, which she won in August. Later in the month of May, she competed in the final stages of the 2020–21 Copa de la Reina. Putellas was sidelined for the two league matches between the Champions League Final and the semifinal of the Copa de la Reina due to her previous injury, but started the semifinal against

Madrid CFF Madrid Club de Fútbol Femenino (; ''Madrid Women's Football Club'') is a Spanish women's football club based in San Sebastián de los Reyes, Community of Madrid, that currently plays in Liga F. History Madrid CFF was founded in 2010 by Alfred ...

where she scored two goals in a 4–0 win. Her two goals made her the first player in Barcelona's history to exceed 10 goals in the

. In the final, played on 30 May 2021, Putellas scored two goals against Levante – a header from a

Lieke Martens Lieke Elisabeth Petronella Martens (; born 16 December 1992) is a Dutch professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), winger or midfielder for Division 1 Féminine club Paris Saint-Germain Féminine ...

corner service and another coming from a shot from open play into the far right corner. The match ended with a 4–2 victory to Barcelona as they completed the continental treble, a first for a Spanish women's club team. Putellas also won MVP of the Copa de la Reina Final for the third time in her career, and scored the most goals in the tournament with five. The cup was her sixth Copa de la Reina with Barcelona and her seventh overall. Putellas ended her season as the highest-scoring midfielder in Europe with 26 goals in all competitions.

2021–22

Following the departure of captain Vicky Losada, Putellas overtook first-captain duties at the beginning of the 2021–22 season. In August 2021, she was nominated as a UEFA Women's Player of the Year Finalist alongside Barcelona teammates Lieke Martens and Jennifer Hermoso. Putellas was given the award later in the month, becoming the first Spanish woman to win it. In September 2021, Putellas renewed her Barcelona contract for three more years until 2024. On 25 September, she scored one of the fastest-ever hat-tricks in her club's history after she netted three goals in four minutes in her side's 8–0 thrashing of

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, one of which was scored from 40-yards. In the month of October, Putellas kicked off Barcelona's 2021–22 UEFA Women's Champions League campaign by scoring their second goal in a 4-1 group stage win against Arsenal. That same month, she was listed as a nominee for the

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, the first Ballon d'Or nomination of her career. In November, Putellas scored 3 goals in two Champions League group stage matches against

Hoffenheim Hoffenheim () is a village in Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the municipality of Sinsheim and, as of 2020, it has a population of 3,191. History The village, settled since prehistoric times, and first mentione ...

. She finished the 2021-22 UWCL group stage with 5 goals. On 29 November 2021, Putellas was awarded the 2021 Ballon d'Or Féminin. She became the first Spanish woman to win any World Player of the Year/Ballon d'Or award, and was the first Spaniard since

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a striker for Uruguayan Primera División club Nacional and the Uruguay national team. Nicknamed ''El Pistolero'' ('The Gunman'), he is ...

in 1960 to win a Ballon d'Or. She dedicated the award to her father and thanked her teammates. In January of the following year, Putellas was named as the winner of FIFA's The Best Womens Player Award, the second FC Barcelona Femení player to win the award after Lieke Martens in 2017. Days later, Putellas scored a 91st-minute winner in a 1-0 match against Real Madrid in the semifinals of the 2021–22 Supercopa Femenina. She later started and played 65 minutes of the Supercopa Femenina final, which ended 7-0 in Barcelona's favor against Atlético Madrid. Putellas began Barcelona's 2021–22 Copa de la Reina campaign by scoring a goal in a 3-1 win against Rayo Vallecano in the

of the tournament. In the

of the tournament, played on 16 March 2022, Putellas scored 2 goals in a 3-0 win against Real Sociedad to advance Barcelona to the semifinals. Later that month, Putellas competed in Barcelona's UWCL quarterfinal matches against domestic rivals Real Madrid. In the first leg, she scored 2 goals to help Barcelona to a narrow 3-1 away win. In the following home leg, Putellas started and scored Barcelona's 4th goal in a 5-2 win over Real Madrid at the Camp Nou. The match broke the record for attendance at a women's football match with 91,553 fans in attendance. In April 2022, Putellas started and scored two goals in a 5-1 UWCL semifinal win over VfL Wolfsburg. The match, again hosted at the Camp Nou, broke the women's football world attendance record once more with 91,648 people in attendance. On 21 May 2022, Putellas started Barcelona's second-consecutive UEFA Women's Champions League Final against Olympique Lyon. She played all 90 minutes and scored Barcelona's only goal in a 1-3 loss. At the conclusion of the tournament, she was named the 2021-22 UWCL Player of the Season, included in the 2021–22 UWCL Team of the Season, and was recognized as the 2021–22 UWCL Top Scorer, scoring 11 goals throughout the competition. She also had the most direct goal involvements of any player in the competition with a combined 13 goals and assists. Putellas returned to domestic competition on the 25th of May in Barcelona's

semi-final A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

Copa de la Reina clash against Real Madrid. She assisted Lieke Martens' opening goal in a match that ended as a 4-0 win. In Barcelona's final match of the season- the Copa de la Reina final against Sporting Huelva- Putellas played the entire match of a 6-1 win and scored Barcelona's sixth and final goal. Putellas finished as the joint-top scorer of the 2021–22 Copa de la Reina, tied with Anita Marcos and Alicia Martínez with 4 goals. By the end of the season, Putellas' teammates agreed that "Barcelona is Alexia and Alexia is Barcelona". She finished her league season with 18 goals and a league-best 15 assists as Barcelona had a perfect, wins-only season. Her 2021-22 season was also the first time in her career that she had scored over 30 goals in a single season, and the first season since 2018-19 that she was Barcelona's top scorer in all competitions. Like last season, Putellas finished as Europe's highest-scoring midfielder with 34 goals in all competitions.

2022–23

On 5 July 2022, Putellas suffered an ACL injury while training with the Spain national team before the 2022 UEFA Women's Euro. Her recovery period post-surgery was estimated to be between 10 and 12 months, meaning she would miss most of, if not the entire 2022–23 Primera División season and 2022–23 UEFA Women's Champions League season. On 25 August, Putellas was awarded the UEFA Women's Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season. Months later, on 17 October 2022, Putellas won the Ballon d'Or Feminin for the second consecutive year, making her the first female to win the award twice.

International career

Youth

Catalonia

Putellas was involved in the autonomous Catalan youth teams from the age of ten. She was champion of Spain with the Catalan under-14, under-15, and under-16 national teams.

Spain

Putellas began playing for Spanish youth national teams at fifteen. She took part in the UEFA U-17 Women's Championship with

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

in 2010, her first major international championship with a Spanish national team. Spain ended up finishing on top of the group, with three wins from three matches, and went on to sweep all their remaining matches, winning the final against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on penalties. This was Spain's first ever title at the women's U-17 level, and its first at the youth level since 2004. Spain's win at the 2010 UEFA U-17 Women's Championship gave them qualification for the

FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament for female players under the age of 17. It is organized by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). The tournament is held in even-numbered ye ...

, played in the same year. Putellas scored in Spain's first match of the competition, as they won 4–1 against

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

. Spain finished first in the group stages, and went on to face

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

in the quarterfinals, where Putellas assisted both of Spain's goals in a 2–1 win. When Spain reached the semifinal against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, Putellas assisted

Amanda Sampedro Amanda Sampedro Bustos (born 26 June 1993) is a Spanish football forward who plays for Atlético Madrid of Spain's Primera División and the Spain national team. International career A skillful forward noted for her creativity and vision, ...

's match-opening goal, but Spain eventually lost 2–1. Spain won against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...

in the third-place playoff match. Spain went on to replicate their success in

. In the first match of the final round, Putellas scored twice against Iceland in a 4-0 win, sending Spain to the final. Spain won 1–0 against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

in the final, Putellas' second

UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Women's Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Women's Under-17 Championship, is a European championship football tournament, organized by UEFA, for national teams of women under age seventeen. The tournament was first played out ...

win. The following year, Putellas carried on experiencing success with Spain's U-19 team. She competed in the 2012 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, playing as an attacker and captaining the Spanish team. She said that she did not find captaining to weigh on her, but the opposite, that it gave her a boost in tough moments. Putellas scored in Spain's second match of the group stage in a 4–0 win against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. After finishing on top of their group, Spain played in the semifinal against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, where Putellas assisted

Raquel Pinel Raquel Pinel Sáez (born 30 August 1994) is a Spanish football forward currently playing for Alhama CF in the Primera División. She previously played for Sporting Huelva, Sevilla and Valencia. Club career Pinel made her debut at 15 years of ...

's game-winning goal. Spain advanced to the final, where Putellas started and captained the match but was taken off in the 83rd minute as Spain were defeated by

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

in the second period of overtime. Though the tournament took place less than a month after Putellas' father died, she has said she had no hesitation deciding to go, saying that football was both her escape and her connection to him. The 2012 UEFA Women's U-19 Championship would be Putellas' last for Spain's youth national teams. In the second round of qualifying for the 2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, Spain were placed in a group with

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, the Czech Republic and Greece. She captained Spain in the

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic ide ...

, scoring twice in three matches, but they finished third in the qualification table with one win and two losses, failing to progress. Despite the high-ranking opposition, Putellas had gone into the group confident, comparing her side's gameplay to that of the Spain men's senior team and saying they would "defend the shirt to the death". With Putellas and nearly two-thirds of the under-19 team aging out of the bracket in 2013 and 2014, and having not qualified for any major tournament for those years, it was said to be the end of an era for what was seen as a dominant period for Spain's youth women's teams.

Senior

Spain

Putellas earned her first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the Spain senior national team in a 2–2 pre-tournament friendly draw with

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Vejle Vejle () is a city in Denmark, in the southeast of the Jutland Peninsula at the head of Vejle Fjord, where the Vejle River and Grejs River and their valleys converge. It is the site of the councils of Vejle Municipality ('' kommune'') and the R ...

in June 2013. The following day, national team coach

Ignacio Quereda Ignacio Quereda Laviña (born 24 July 1950) is a Spanish football coach who managed the Spain women's national football team between 1988 and 2015. Playing career Born in Madrid, Quereda was raised in Badajoz where his family moved when he was ...

confirmed her as a member of his 23-player squad for the 2013 European Championship finals in Sweden. She and friend

Virginia Torrecilla Virginia Torrecilla Reyes (born 4 September 1994), simply known as Virginia, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid in the Spanish Primera División, having also previously played for FC Barcelona and French Divis ...

were called up as part of Quereda's plan to add the "freshness" of youth players in with senior figures. Reflecting on the differences between men's and women's football in Spain shortly after being called up, Putellas said that stereotypes in society prevented the Spain women's team from seeing the same success as the men's, despite having the same technical quality. In Spain's first match of the 2013 Euro, Putellas made her competitive match debut when she was subbed on against

. She scored the winner at the end of added time in Spain's 3–2 victory with a header, her first senior international goal. The win was Spain's first win at a Euro tournament in 16 years, their first win against England in 17 years, as well as their only win of that tournament. Putellas was a substitute again in the team's next match against

. She then started in the group match against

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, and as Spain were eliminated by

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

in the quarter-final. In May 2015, Putellas was called up as part of Spain's squad at the

2015 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup was the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international soccer championship contested by the women's national teams of the member associations of FIFA. The tournament was hosted by Canada for the ...

in Canada, their first ever participation in a

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the concept i ...

. She started every game in the tournament, where Spain put up an uninspiring display of two losses and a draw. Her and her 22 teammates in the squad called for the resignation of long-

tenure Tenure is a category of academic appointment existing in some countries. A tenured post is an indefinite academic appointment that can be terminated only for cause or under extraordinary circumstances, such as financial exigency or program disco ...

d coach Ignacio Quereda, citing poor preparation for the tournament and lost confidence. Under Putellas' former coach with Spain's U-17s, Jorge Vilda, she was called up to Spain's 2017 UEFA Women's Euro squad. She started in each of Spain's group stage games at the UEFA Women's Euro 2017, where they advanced to the knockouts on a head-to-head tiebreaker with a record of one win and two losses. Spain was defeated by

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

on penalties, where she was subbed in at the 68th minute. Alexia Putellas 20181311

In May 2019, Putellas was named part of Spain's squad at the

2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football championship contested by 24 women's national teams representing member associations of FIFA. It ...

, both her and Spain's second Women's World Cup tournament. She played in each of Spain's three group stage games where they advanced to the Round of 16, making it Spain's most successful run in a World Cup. Spain put up an impressive display against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the eventual tournament winners. Putellas started that match, which ended up a 1–2 loss to the United States. Nine months after the World Cup, Spain competed in the

2020 SheBelieves Cup The 2020 SheBelieves Cup was the fifth edition of the SheBelieves Cup, an invitational women's football tournament held in the United States. Featuring national teams from Spain, England, Japan, and hosts United States, it began on March 5 and ...

, against

, England, and Round of 16 World Cup opponents the United States. Putellas scored once against Japan and scored a late match-winner with a header against England. Her performances earned her player of the tournament. In 2020, after Spain teammate and close friend

was diagnosed with cancer, Putellas began wearing Torrecillas's number 14 with the Spain national team. Putellas said she would not retire the number until Torrecilla returns to the national team. In 2021, Putellas was named of the three captains of the Spanish national team, with

Irene Paredes Irene Paredes Hernández (born 4 July 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Liga F club Barcelona and the Spain national team. Club career Real Sociedad Born in Legazpi, Gipuzkoa in the Basque Country, ...

and Jennifer Hermoso. On 26 October 2021, Putellas surpassed

's record for Spain national team appearances, picking up her 91st

in a 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup qualifying match against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

. On 2 November 2021, she was named the Spain women's national team Player of the Year. On 1 July 2022, she became the first player to reach 100 caps with the national team, achieving this in a friendly match against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Days later she was included in Jorge Vilda's final list to represent Spain at the 2022 UEFA Women's Euro but, on 5 July, the day before the Euro began, suffered an ACL tear of her left leg, which caused her to miss the entire tournament and potentially the entire 2022–23 season. She attended Spain's debut match at the Euros from the stands, a 4–1 victory against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, before returning to Barcelona and having a knee operation on 12 July 2022. In September of 2022, Putellas gave her public support to 15 of her Spain teammates who refused to play for the national team until the

RFEF The Royal Spanish Football Federation ( es, Real Federación Española de Fútbol; RFEF) is the governing body of football in Spain. It is based in La Ciudad del Fútbol of Las Rozas, a municipality near Madrid. It was founded on 14 October 1909 ...

addressed their concerns about their poor mental and physical health while playing under head coach Jorge Vilda. On 23 September, she and the 15 players posted a joint statement that criticized the RFEF for their response to the situation.

Style of play

Having been a left-sided forward winger with playmaking ability in her youth career, the predominantly left-footed Putellas is best known as a left-sided 'number 8'

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

attacking midfielder A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...

for both Barcelona and Spain. For Spain, she has also been played as a lone 'number 10'. She has been described as the perfect " Barcelona midfielder", with the vision, passing ability, and passing accuracy that resembles her male counterparts of Barcelona's successful Guardiola era; her technique has been compared to that of male Barcelona footballers Xavi,

Sergio Busquets Sergio Busquets Burgos (, ; born 16 July 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for La Liga club Barcelona, where he is captain. He is considered to be a deep-lying playmaker capable of directing gameplay ...

, and particularly

Andrés Iniesta Andrés Iniesta Luján (; born 11 May 1984) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and is the captain of J1 League club Vissel Kobe. Considered one of the greatest midfielders of all time, Iniesta has spent most of hi ...

, all of whom she has said inspire her game, as well as Real Madrid's

Luka Modrić Luka Modrić (; born 9 September 1985) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Croatia national team. He plays mainly as a central midfielder, but can also play as an a ...

. ''GOAL'' has described her as "technically superb", creative, and decisive. A July 2022 technical report suggested that, while marking and dispossessing her were not impossible, the best way to overcome Putellas in possession would be to call on divine intervention. Alongside her technical ability, she is hailed for her leadership capabilities and overall fitness. FCB_v_Real_Sociedad_-_DSC_1547_(51262554021)

FCB_v_Real_Sociedad_-_DSC_1547_(51262554021)

Normally situated in the central midfield of the set-up, Putellas is one of the main contributors to Barcelona's attack, with the ability to play as an attacking midfielder and a

second striker Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

. Putellas regularly finishes each season as one of Barcelona's top contributors in terms of both goals and assists. In the 2018–19 season she was the club's highest scorer in all competitions, and in the 2020–21 and 2021–22 seasons, she was Europe's highest-scoring midfielder. Her statistics around attacking play reflect those of a centre forward, and she is most typically positioned in the opposition half as the furthest-forward midfielder, occupying a "half-space" between the opposition's back lines, and between their full-back and centre-back; her ability to receive with either foot helps her to keep the ball in this tight space, opening up attacking routes forward. In attack, she is often the player to receive the ball from deep as the final stage of build-up play, quickly pressing or passing forward. When the attack is less advanced, Putellas is able to move further back and become a passing option for her backlines when they are looking for options to break through and attack; when positioned further back, she does not act as a deep-lying playmaker, with her creative play instead occurring in the final third. With the ball played down the left, Putellas often provides assists, using her skills on the ball to create goal-scoring opportunities in the final third. Her creative play is described by ''Give Me Sport'' as regularly "terrorising players with her fancy flicks and deft body feints". The website also noted her exceptional passing ability; though typically playing shorter passes, and more unsuccessful than not at playing through balls, Putellas otherwise has good statistics for pass accuracy and pass importance, and is often successful at passing into the

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends 16.5m (18 yd) to each side of the goal and 16.5m (18 yd) in front of it. Wit ...

. Not known for her speed, her ball management skills still allow her to dribble and keep possession, successfully dribbling an above-average amount. When the ball is played down the right, Putellas will position herself in the box, often at the back post, taking advantage of her relative height as an option to score. As a midfielder, she sometimes takes shots from outside the area, though these are less accurate than her shots inside the box, of which she takes many; her ability to find space in the box poses a significant attacking threat. When making forward runs instead of creating the attack, Putellas will come from behind her team's forward line and so is harder for the opposition defence to detect, allowing her to identify precise routes through and time her runs to receive a ball. In this play, she is also difficult to conventionally mark due to roaming. When needed, she can find herself in

defensive midfield A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

positions to help Barcelona open up spaces and retain possession. Spain presses high, with Putellas able to contribute to defensive play high up the pitch. In both teams, Putellas' defensive play is typically blocking the opposition's deepest midfielder, winning over 60% of defensive duels, though she has a frequent tendency to foul players she tries to recover balls from. She makes a significant number of loose ball recoveries in the opposition half and has a good work rate when counter-pressing.

In popular culture

Putellas is sponsored by

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

. In 2019, she scored the longest-range goal at the Camp Nou (100m) in a promotional event for Nike's new PhantomVNM Boots. After reaching the 2019 Women's Champions League Final, she was the face of Nike's promotions for FC Barcelona, with a billboard displayed in the streets of

that read "don't play for finals, play for history." After her 2021 Ballon d'Or win, Nike gifted her a custom gold crown and a pair of custom-made gold Phantom GT 2 boots. They gave her another custom pair of the same boots after her 2022 Ballon d'Or win, branded as Phantom GT II; the " ll" digraph in her surname was stylised as "" on the box to indicate her second win, with the heel also featuring "Alexia II". Putellas has additional sponsorships with

Cupra Cupra Racing, formerly known as SEAT Sport, is the high-performance motorsport subsidiary of the Spanish automobile manufacturer SEAT, founded in 1985, succeeding the "SEAT Special Vehicles department" which had been formed in 1971 with the miss ...

, Allianz and

Visa Visa most commonly refers to: *Visa Inc., a US multinational financial and payment cards company ** Visa Debit card issued by the above company ** Visa Electron, a debit card ** Visa Plus, an interbank network *Travel visa, a document that allows ...

, and is a member of Team VISA. Putellas has been dubbed "''La Reina''" (The Queen) by fans, the media, and by Nike, who included the nickname in a congratulatory post for her 2021 Ballon d'Or win. In the 2022 docu-series about Putellas, '' Alexia: Labor Omnia Vincit'', teammate Mapi León said that she had earned such a sobriquet. Discussing this series, women's football reporter Asif Burhan wrote that Putellas' "dedication to the sport has revolutionized the women's game." The first song on Brazilian band Skank's 2014 album ' is a tribute to Putellas. Titled "Alexia", it was inspired by her viral goal in the 2013 Copa de la Reina final and compares her to global icons

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

, and

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés Messi (; born 24 June 1987), also known as Leo Messi, is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and captains the Argentina national team. Widely regarded as one of the ...

, and Catalan icons Antoni Gaudí and

Joan Miró Joan Miró i Ferrà ( , , ; 20 April 1893 – 25 December 1983) was a Catalan painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona i ...

, as well as commenting on her physical beauty and her style of play. The band visited Putellas in Barcelona to play her the song and seek her approval before releasing it. After winning the Ballon d'Or in 2021, Putellas' hometown of Mollet announced plans to rename their football pitch after her; Putellas turned this down after initially accepting, saying that she wanted the pitch to continue honouring the Gonzalvo brothers (

Juli Juli may refer to: * Juli (band), a rock/pop band from Germany * "Juli", by Ryan Adams from the album '' Prisoner (B-Sides)'' * Juli District, one district of the province Chucuito in Puno Region, Peru ** , the capital of Juli District * Juli (foo ...

, Josep, and Marià, after whom it was originally named), fellow Barcelona footballers from Mollet. The municipality also announced plans to award Putellas the civic title (akin to

Freedom of the City The Freedom of the City (or Borough in some parts of the UK) is an honour bestowed by a municipality upon a valued member of the community, or upon a visiting celebrity or dignitary. Arising from the medieval practice of granting respected ...

) "''Per Mollet''". The gymnasium at her former school is named for her. For

Holy Week Holy Week ( la, Hebdomada Sancta or , ; grc, Ἁγία καὶ Μεγάλη Ἑβδομάς, translit=Hagia kai Megale Hebdomas, lit=Holy and Great Week) is the most sacred week in the liturgical year in Christianity. In Eastern Churches, w ...

2022, Easter ''monas'' depicting Putellas in some way were the most popular design of ''mona'' in Catalonia, overtaking Messi designs. In 2022, Putellas was given an overall rating of 92 in the football simulation video game ''

FIFA 23 ''FIFA 23'' is a football video game published by Electronic Arts. It is the 30th installment in the '' FIFA'' series that is developed by EA Sports, and the final installment under the ''FIFA'' banner, and released worldwide on 30 September 20 ...

'', the highest rating in the game for any player, including men. Later that year, a wax figure of Putellas was added to the Barcelona

wax museum A wax museum or waxworks usually consists of a collection of wax sculptures representing famous people from history and contemporary personalities exhibited in lifelike poses, wearing real clothes. Some wax museums have a special section dubb ...

Personal life

In her youth, Putellas idolised male footballers Andrés Iniesta,

Rivaldo Rivaldo Vítor Borba Ferreira (born 19 April 1972), known simply as Rivaldo (), is a Brazilian former footballer who played mainly as an attacking midfielder but also as a second striker, and on occasion deployed as a wide midfielder or as a ...

, and

Ronaldinho Ronaldo de Assis Moreira (born 21 March 1980), commonly known as Ronaldinho Gaúcho () or simply Ronaldinho, is a Brazilian retired professional association football, footballer who played mostly as an attacking midfielder, but was also deplo ...

, who all played for Barcelona, as well as female footballer Louisa Nécib, who played for Olympique Lyonnais. Iniesta has returned the idolatry, calling Putellas a "role model" and saying she encapsulates the values of FC Barcelona. In 2012, two weeks before the start of the 2012 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship, Putellas' father, Jaume, passed away. Occasionally, when she steps on the pitch or celebrates a goal, Putellas will point her fingers to the sky and look up in dedication to her late father. Putellas has a pet dog called Nala. She also has a large number of tattoos, including various Latin phrases, prominently ''

Labor omnia vincit ''Labor omnia vincit'' or ''Labor omnia vincit improbus'' is a list of Latin phrases, Latin phrase meaning "Work conquers all". The phrase is adapted from Virgil's ''Georgics'', Book I, lines 145–6: ''...Labor omnia vicit / improbus'' ("Stead ...

''; a Hand of Fatima; an

Eye of Horus The Eye of Horus, ''wedjat'' eye or ''udjat'' eye is a concept and symbol in ancient Egyptian religion that represents well-being, healing, and protection. It derives from the mythical conflict between the god Horus with his rival Set, in wh ...

; a Barcelona panot tile with "Made in" written above; a football; the number 112 (combining her first Spain shirt number, 12, with her iconic shirt number, 11); and a silhouette of her father holding her as an infant and handing her a football. In 2019, Putellas spoke out against prison sentences for

Catalan independence The Catalan independence movement ( ca, independentisme català; Spanish: ''independentismo catalán'') is a social and political movement (with roots in Catalan nationalism) which seeks the independence of Catalonia from Spain. The beginning ...

leaders in the aftermath of the

2017 Catalan independence referendum An independence referendum was held on 1 October 2017 in the Autonomous communities of Spain, Spanish autonomous community of Catalonia, passed by the Parliament of Catalonia as the Law on the Referendum on Self-determination of Catalonia and cal ...

, saying the sentences were "not the solution." She speaks

and learnt

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

in school as a child.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Spain's and Catalonia's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Putellas goal.''

Honours

Espanyol *

Barcelona * Primera División: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2019–20,

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

, 2021–22 *

, runner-up: 2018–19, 2021–22 *

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, 2014, 2017, 2018,

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España or the ''Spanish Super Cup'' is a super cup tournament in Spanish football. Founded in 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2019–20 by four teams: the winners and runners-up of ...

: 2019–20, 2021–22 *

Copa Catalunya The Copa Catalunya (''Catalonia Cup'') is a knockout competition organised by the Catalan Football Federation for football clubs in the Catalonia autonomous community of Spain. History Between 1903 and 1940, it was known as the '' Champions ...

: 2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 Spain *

Algarve Cup The Algarve Cup is an invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football hosted by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). Held annually in the Algarve region of Portugal since 1994, it is one of the most prestigious an ...

: 2017 *

Cyprus Cup The Cyprus Women's Cup is a global invitational tournament for national teams in women's association football. It has been held annually in Cyprus since 2008. Although the competition takes place in Cyprus, the hosts have yet to take part in t ...

: 2018 Individual *

: 2021 * Golden Player Woman Award: 2022 * UEFA Women's Player of the Year: 2020–21, 2021–22 * UEFA Women's Champions League Player of the Season: 2021–22 * UEFA Women's Champions League Midfielder of the Season:

Squad of the Season: 2018–19,

, 2021–22 * IFFHS Women's Player of the Year: 2021, 2022 * IFFHS Women's Playmaker of the Year: 2021, 2022 * World Soccer Women's World Player of the Year: 2021 * Globe Soccer Women's Player of the Year:

* Trofeo Aldo Rovira: 2020–21 *Catalan Player of the Year: 2015, 2017, 2021, 2022 * Primera División MVP of the Season: 2019–20 *

Final MVP:

, 2014,

Top goalscorer :

, 2021–22 * Spain women's national team Player of the Year: 2021 * Primera División Team of the Season: 2015–16, 2018–19 * GOAL50 Women's Player of the Year: 2021 * The 100 Best Female Footballers In The World Winner: 2021 * Fútbol Draft Best XI: 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015 *

SheBelieves Cup The SheBelieves Cup is an invitational women's soccer tournament held in different cities in the United States in late February or early March. In its first three years (2016, 2017 and 2018), it was contested by the same four teams: the United ...

Tournament MVP:

Awards and recognition

In 2010, 16-year-old Putellas was selected to the Best Female XI in that year's Fútbol Draft, a yearly list of the best U-23 female and male Spanish footballers, chosen by the Royal Spanish Football Federation (RFEF), the

Association of Spanish Footballers The Spanish Footballers' Association ( es, Asociación de Futbolistas Españoles, AFE) is the association for professional footballers in Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (m ...

(AFE), the High Council for Sports (CSD),

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

, and the Spanish Association of Football Agents (AEAF). Putellas was again selected to the Fútbol Draft Best Female XI in 2012, 2013, 2014, and 2015. Along with

Gerard Piqué Gerard Piqué Bernabeu (, ; born 2 February 1987) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a centre-back. He is considered one of the best defenders of his generation. Initially a highly promising student at La Masia, Piqué ...

, Alexia Putellas was named the best Catalan Player of the Year in 2015. Putellas was selected ahead of Spain teammates Marta Torrejón and Marta Corredera. Being key in Barcelona's fourth straight La Liga title and her participation in the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup were crucial for winning the award. She was again chosen for the award in 2017 and 2021. In 2021, after being awarded the Globe Soccer Player of the Year award, Putellas's image was displayed on the

Burj Khalifa The Burj Khalifa (; ar, برج خليفة, , Khalifa Tower), known as the Burj Dubai prior to its inauguration in 2010, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. It is known for being the world’s tallest building. With a total height ...

Dubai Dubai (, ; ar, دبي, translit=Dubayy, , ) is the most populous city in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the capital of the Emirate of Dubai, the most populated of the 7 emirates of the United Arab Emirates.The Government and Politics of ...

, the first time a woman's image has been displayed on the building.

Notes

References

External links

* *
Profile
at

Profile
at

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante ...

* *
Alexia Putellas
on

Instagram Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Putellas, Alexia 1994 births Living people Spanish women's footballers Footballers from Catalonia Spain women's international footballers Primera División (women) players RCD Espanyol Femenino players Levante UD Femenino players FC Barcelona Femení players Women's association football wingers 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup players 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup players People from Vallès Oriental Sportspeople from the Province of Barcelona Sportswomen from Catalonia FIFA Century Club UEFA Women's Euro 2017 players Spain women's youth international footballers

Early life and education

Club career

Sabadell, youth

Barcelona La Masia, 2005–06

Espanyol

Youth, 2006–10

Senior, 2010–11

Levante, 2011–12

Barcelona

2012–13

2013–14

2014–15

2015–16

2016–17

2017–18

2018–19

2019–20

2020–21

2021–22

2022–23

International career

Youth

Catalonia

Spain

Senior

Spain

Style of play

In popular culture

Personal life

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Awards and recognition

See also

Notes

References

External links