Women's Footballer of the Year contender Alexia Putellas

Age: 28 Position: Midfielder Teams: Barcelona and Spain

Last season was a campaign of many highs for 2021 Ballon d'Or winner Alexia Putellas, along with a few lows.

The 28-year-old captained Barcelona to a domestic treble, claiming the Spanish League for the third season in a row. Her side won all 30 league matches, with Putellas scoring 18 goals and registering 15 assists.

She twice played and scored in front of record-breaking crowds of more than 90,000 fans at the Nou Camp in Barca's Champions League quarter-final and semi-final victories. The Catalan club were denied a second consecutive Champions League title after losing to French side Lyon in the final.

For Putellas, the season was to end in disappointment when she suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury on the eve of Euro 2022, ruling her out of the entire tournament as Spain were knocked out by eventual winners England in the quarter-finals.

Putellas on...

... playing at a sold-out Nou Camp

"It will always be one of the best moments I've ever lived in my professional life. I can't put in words how I felt, it was incredible.

"You could see how happy the fans were and we could give them some of the love back with goals, with a good match, with moving on to the next stage of the competition and then of course, getting into the final.

"The moment that we're in the tunnel, that in reality is just a very small door - you can only see a tiny bit of the stadium and just by that bit you could already tell that it was full.

"One of the things that impressed me the most - it first happened without a crowd when we played during the pandemic - is that when you're on the pitch you look up to the stands in Camp Nou and it's immense, a sense of grandeur.

"Adding to that 91,000 or more people screaming and singing - just imagine how we felt."

Childhood Barcelona fan Alexia Putellas scored three goals at the Nou Camp last season in front of record-breaking crowds

... injury ruling her out of Euros

"One day before the Euros started, I broke my knee and it was hard because I was waiting for this moment for three years, and I worked very hard for it too, but that's how football is, and that's what fate wanted.

"One of the things that hurt me the most was not being able to be with them [her team-mates] on the pitch. We've played together for a long time now, in the national team or even in Barca, so it was very hard.

"Even though it wasn't my fault, I felt like I was abandoning them and that hurt me too. But it's a lesson learnt, these things happen when they happen and you're never ready and so I tried to give them confidence and tranquillity, stayed a few days with them and above all, tried to assure them that they could achieve something great."

... losing the Champions League final to Lyon

"Now that some time has passed, we were at a very high level during the whole season, and in the match that we needed that the most, we weren't. These things happen and you can ask me 'Why did that happen? Why in that match? The most important one of the season.'

"I'm sure that if we were ourselves during that match, which is what hurts the most because we weren't, we would be talking about a different feeling right now."

... being a role model

"This is a sport for everyone in the world, that everyone can play, that everyone can love and, in the end, we need to make it natural.

"And the sooner we make this acceptance natural, it'll be much better because you create a safe platform for the little boys and girls to be free and choose whatever they like the most without being scared or pushed back."

... fulfilling her father's dream she would play for Barca

"It's very important, I think about it every day, try to make everything go in a way that he'd like [her dad died in 2012].

"Beyond everything I feel for Barca, that everyone knows, there's also that connection with my dad as it was also his dream, alongside mine, so this gives me the opportunity to fulfil the dream for both."

What others say

Former Barcelona coach Lluis Cortes: "I was so privileged to be her head coach. Alexia is a player who you can always speak to about everything in the game, because she understands the game very well.

"I always said to the players, if you don't know what to do with the ball, pass to Alexia and she will know. She is able to make the best decisions every time."

Achievements of 2021-22

Did you know?

• Andres Iniesta, Rivaldo and Ronaldinho are her footballing heroes

• She became the first female Spanish player to win 100 caps for the national team

• Her image was projected across the Burj Khalifa in Dubai after the Globe Soccer awards last December

• She could become first female player to win Ballon d'Or two years running after being nominated again this year