The Barça player was awarded her second Ballon d’Or for her stellar performance with her club and remains on the throne of women’s football despite her injury, which kept her out of the European Championship
Alexia Putellas is still the best football player in the world. The Barça midfielder rehabilitated the historic Ballon d’Or which she won for the first time in 2021, breaking a barrier to Spanish women’s football. Despite her absence from the European Championship, from which she was separated by an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament of her left knee, and still in recovery, the Barça player was recognized for her great season with her club with the most prestigious award, for which all soccer players on the planet sigh.
«I’m very happy to be here again, very happy… When we managed to win the first one a year ago, I decided to improve to put myself at the service of the team. Seeing him rewarded in this way makes me proud, without my colleagues this would not be possible. Not even without my coach and his coaching staff, who help me to get better every day “said Alexia, touched to remember her injury and elegantly to recognize the organization of the European Championship in England, that tournament she could not enjoy. “I really miss all those moments, feeling like a footballer. It’s what I like the most…”, he recognized before the look of his mother and sister, visibly moved.
The Spaniard signed 34 goals and 21 assists in the 43 official games she played with Barça in the 2021-22 season, in addition to winning the League, the Queen’s Cup and the Spanish Super Cup, and remained on the brink of the second consecutive Champions League for the Catalan club, as his team fell in the final against Olympique de Lyon in Turin. She was also chosen as the best player in that Champions League and also recognized by the UEFA award. Earnings left to hold the scepter of women’s football, something no one had achieved since the award’s launch.
The Danish Ada Hegerberg in 2018, the American Megan Rapinoe in 2019 and Alexia Putellas in 2021 and now, in 2022, after the 2020 break due to covid-19. An entire pantheon meant only for the greatest. The predictions that placed the Catalan as the top favorite for Arsenal’s English striker Beth Mead, the top scorer of the European Championship, in which England defeated Germany in the final, came true. The podium was completed by Chelsea’s Australian striker Sam Kerr, with German Wolfsburg midfielder Lena Oberdorf in fourth and Aitana Bonmatí, the other Spaniard nominated for the award, in fifth.
On an unforgettable evening for Spanish football, the Kopa trophy for the best young player went to Barça’s Gavi, who received the award from his team-mate Pedri, winner in 2021. It was a kind of balm for Barça after a week of oblivion and made Joan Laporta smile. The Los Palacios midfielder dedicated the recognition to his club, teammates and all the coaches of a short but lightning-fast career.
Thibaut Courtois won the Yashin trophy for the best goalkeeper in the world, an award confirmed by his exceptional role in Real Madrid’s Champions League-League double in the 2021-22 season and above all with one of the best performances among the sticks since time immemorial in a Champions League final. In addition, Barça player Robert Lewandowski won the Müller trophy for best scorer, so only the Sócrates trophy escaped Spanish football, a symbolic prize for values awarded to Sadio Mané for his humanitarian work with the most disadvantaged in his country , Senegal.
Source: La Verdad
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