Alexia Putellas wins second successive Women's Ballon d'Or: Career achievements
Spanish ace Alexia Putellas has won the Ballon d'Or for the second consecutive year. Putellas, who represents Barcelona, is the first woman to win the award twice. Barca Women lost the Champions League final, but Putellas was the top scorer (11 goals). She finished the Spanish league season as the highest-scoring mid-fielder in Europe with 26 goals across competitions. Here are her career achievements.
Women's Ballon d'Or: Top 10 players
1) Alexia Putellas (Barcelona, Spain) 2) Beth Mead (Arsenal, England) 3) Sam Kerr (Chelsea, Australia) 4) Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg, Germany) 5) Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona, Spain) 6) Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg, Germany) 7) Ada Hegerberg (Lyon, Norway) 8) Wendie Renard (Lyon, France) 9) Catarina Macario (Lyon, USA) 10) Lucy Bronze (Barcelona, England)
Putellas led Barcelona to third successive Primera Division title
Putellas won the prestigious award despite being out of action since June with a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Arsenal's Beth Mead and Chelsea's Sam Kerr were the other contenders in the Ballon d'Or race. Before sustaining the injury, Putellas led Barcelona to a third successive Primera Division title. Notably, Barca won all 30 of their league games in the season.
UEFA Women's Player of the Year
Under Putellas, Barcelona completed a domestic treble after winning the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa de la Reina. However, Barca fell short in the UEFA Champions League final. Although Putellas struck in the summit clash against French side Lyon, Barcelona lost 1-3. She finished the campaign with most goals (11). Putellas was named UEFA Women's Player of the Year eventually.
Putellas achieved this feat in 2021
In 2021, Putellas became the first Spanish player to win Ballon d'Or since Luis Suarez Miramontes in 1960. The former was also named the Best FIFA Women's Player. Notably, the Ballon d'Or Feminin was introduced in 2018 when Lyon's Ada Hegerberg won the same.
A look at Putellas' career
Putellas won the Primera Division with Barcelona in 2012/13, 2013/14, 2014/15, 2019/20, 2020/21, and 2021/22. Other titles include Copa de la Reina (2013, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2021, and 2022), Supercopa de Espana (2019/20 and 2021/22), and Copa Catalunya (2012, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019). She has also won the Algarve Cup (2017) and Cyprus Cup (2018) with Spain.
187 goals across 461 matches
Putellas has scored a total of 187 goals across 461 matches in her career. Before moving to Barca, the Spanish star played for Levante (2011/12) and Espanyol (2009/10 and 2010/11). She made a total of 63 appearances for the two clubs.
Other notable numbers of Putellas
In 2022, Putellas became the first Spanish woman to play 100 football matches. She has featured in 52 of Barcelona's 56 UEFA Women's Champions League matches as of now (all-time). In January 2021, she became the first woman to score a competitive goal at Camp Nou in a league game against Espanyol. Putellas captained Spain to the 2012 UEFA European Women's Under-19 Championship final.
