Alexia Putellas returned to reign in Paris. The Blaugrana captain took her second The Best of hers, beating Beath Mead - her eternal pursuer of hers in the great individual prizes - and the American star Alex Morgan. Not even the injury that deprived him of playing in the Eurocup has managed to overshadow an incredible season, personally and collectively. The award in the female modality values the performance in the period between August 7, 2021 and July 31, 2022 -Alexia was injured on July 5-. In this time, the Blaugrana has improved all her records from the previous season: she scored 34 goals and 20 assists in all competitions with the Barça shirt and with Spain -without the Eurocup- she reached the figure of 42 goals. She was named the best player in the Champions League, as well as the top scorer in the competition and in the League she was the top assist and second top scorer. She won the League, the Cup, the Super Cup and played in the Champions League final, in addition, she made history by winning her second Ballon d'Or.
Not having played in the top continental tournament was the only argument that could keep her away from the trophy and, aware of this, Alexia Putellas breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the president of FIFA, Gianni Infantino, pronounce her name. "I haven't prepared anything for myself", the woman from Mollet del Vallès acknowledged in an impromptu speech in which she addressed the audience in English, Spanish and Catalan and in which she also remembered her rivals: "Alex, Beth, congratulations, you you deserve it too."
The Blaugrana footballer became the only one to win this award in two consecutive editions, just as she did in November with the Ballon d'Or in this same city, Paris. Immersed in full recovery from her serious crusader injury, she had words of gratitude to her family and friends, as well as her teammates and her club for her support in these difficult times. But she wanted to end with a hopeful message: “With this I hope it is clear that if you have a dream, dream it very hard and work hard, you can achieve it. And most importantly, enjoy the road”.
After receiving the trophy virtually last year due to sanitary restrictions, this year Alexia was supported by her teammates Lucy Bronze, Mapi León and Ingrid Engen, who accompanied her on the expedition to Paris chaired by the president of the blaugrana entity , Joan Laporta.
A total of eight Barça players -among them the one from Mollet del Vallès- were nominated in the best eleven of the season category (Sandra Paños, Lucy Bronze, Mapi León, Irene Paredes, Caroline Graham Hansen, Aitana Bonmatí and Keira Wlahs). . Last year, this award given by FIFPRO was undoubtedly the most controversial of all as it did not include any Blaugrana footballer in it in a year in which Barça had won their first Champions League and won a treble. This time, there has been a Blaugrana representation with four players among the eleven best in the world: Lucy Bronze, Mapi León, Alexia Putellas and Keira Walsh.
The English team, proclaimed European champions this summer, was another of the great stars of the night, with Mary Earps winning the award for best goalkeeper and Sarina Wiegman making history by becoming the first coach to win this trophy in three editions ( 2017, 2020 and 2022). The Dutchman has managed to make the Netherlands team European champion in 2017 and England last year. "We have the responsibility to compete on the pitch, but to be a team off it to make women's football grow even more," she said in her vindictive speech.
