10 Things To Know About Alexia Putellas

10 Things To Know About Alexia Putellas

In addition to playing as a midfielder for Barcelona, which she captains, and the Spanish national team, which she has captained, Alexia Putellas Segura is a Spanish professional footballer. She has represented Catalonia and played for Espanyol and Levante in the past. She is recognized as the best female footballer in the world now and one of the greatest players of all time after winning all major club and individual trophies available to a European player by 2022. Reporter Asif Burhan, who covered women’s football in 2022, stated that Putellas’ “dedication to the sport has revolutionized the women’s game.” Now that we have some reliable facts, let’s examine 10 Facts About Alexia Putellas.

1. Alexia is the first player to win three major awards in Barcelona

Steffen Prößdorf, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

She was crucial to Barcelona’s success in the 2020–21 campaign, which saw them capture the continental treble and the Champions League for the first time in club history.

Putellas went on to become the first player to win all three awards in the same year in 2021 when she won the UEFA Women’s Player of the Year Award, the Ballon d’Or Féminin, and the Best FIFA Women’s Player.

She won all three accolades once more in 2022, becoming the first woman to do so in any year after missing the UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 due to an ACL injury. Barcelona won the continental triple once more in 2022–2023 despite Putellas’ injury, who was largely out.

Read 50 Best Female Soccer Players of All Time

2. She has won 3 major awards at the International level

Putellas has success with Spain’s youth national teams on the international level, taking home two UEFA Women’s U-17 Euros (in 2010 and 2011) and placing second at the 2012 UEFA Women’s U-19 Euro.

She made her senior national team debut for Spain at the 2013 UEFA Women’s Euro, and since then, she has played for the squad in three other major international tournaments: Spain’s 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup debut, the 2017 Euro, and the 2019 World Cup.

3. Putellas has the second-most all-time appearances for Barcelona

Putellas is Barcelona’s second-highest scorer all-time, trailing only former striker Jennifer Hermoso, and has made the second-most appearances overall as of 2022. With 101 caps, she also holds the record for the most appearances for Spain, surpassing Marta Torrejón’s prior mark of 90 caps in 2021.

4. She Idolizes Iniesta

When she was younger, Putellas admired both Louisa Nécib, an Olympique Lyonnais player, and male footballers Andrés Iniesta, Rivaldo, and Ronaldinho who all played for Barcelona. Iniesta has responded to the admiration by praising Putellas as a role model and an embodiment of FC Barcelona’s principles.

5. Putellas showed leadership qualities from a young age

Giovanni Batista Rodriguez from San Sebastian-Donostia, España, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Putellas was a mature, reticent, but not timid child who showed leadership skills early on.

She liked football at school when she either picked the teams or was picked first, but she knows women who felt excluded by their friends for wanting to play, and she has admitted that she didn’t think she could play football professionally because she is a woman.

Putellas joined the Sabadell girls’ team shortly after quitting her previous club, the local CF Mollet UE boys’ team, after just three training sessions because she did not enjoy the environment there.

6. Alexia began holds Business Administration and Management Degree

Putellas enrolled in the Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona in 2013 to study business administration and management. She later discontinued her studies to concentrate on football. Due to the lack of professionalism in Spanish women’s football (Barcelona became professional in 2015), she decided to get a degree.

7. Putellas began playing for Spanish youth national teams at fifteen

EL Loko Foto, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

At age 15, Putellas started competing for the Spanish youth national teams. Her first significant international competition with a Spanish national team was the UEFA U-17 Women’s Championship in 2010.

Spain ultimately won all of their remaining games, placing first in the group with three victories out of three, and defeating Ireland in the championship game on penalties. This was Spain’s first-ever victory at the U-17 level for women and its first youth victory since 2004.

8. She is the first player to reach 100 caps with the national team

In an exhibition game against Italy on July 1, 2022, she became the first player to earn 100 caps for the national team.

She was added to Jorge Vilda’s final roster a few days later to represent Spain at the 2022 UEFA Women’s Euro, however on July 5, the day before the competition began, she tore the ACL in her left leg, keeping her out of the competition and possibly the entire 2022–23 season.

Read Top 15 Best Spanish Women Soccer Players

9. Putellas is best known as a left-sided ‘number 8’

Giovanni Batista Rodriguez from San Sebastian-Donostia, España, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

The generally left-footed Putellas began her career as a playmaking left-sided forward winger, but she is best recognized as a left-sided “number 8” central or attacking midfielder for both Barcelona and Spain.

She has also been utilized as a lone “number 10” for Spain. Her technique has been compared to that of male Barcelona footballers Xavi, Sergio Busquets, and particularly Andrés Iniesta, all of whom she has said inspire her game.

She has been dubbed the “perfect Barcelona midfielder,” with the vision, passing ability, and passing accuracy that resembles her male counterparts of Barcelona’s successful Guardiola era.

10. Putellas is sponsored by Nike

Xavier Rondón Medina, CC BY-SA 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

Nike is a sponsor of Putellas. She achieved Camp Nou’s longest-range goal (100m) in 2019 during a Nike PhantomVNM Boots promotion. After FC Barcelona advanced to the 2019 Women’s Champions League Final, Putellas, who had previously appeared in a Nike marketing campaign in 2015, became the face of their promotions.

Nike sent her a personalized gold crown and a pair of personalized gold Phantom GT 2 footwear in recognition of her 2021 Ballon d’Or victory. After she won the 2022 Ballon d’Or, they gifted her another pair of the same special Phantom GT II boots; Putellas is a part of Team VISA and has additional sponsorships from Cupra, Allianz, and Visa. Additionally, she serves as a spokesperson for the fashion label Mango, and their relationship aims to advance equality.

She is a beloved figure who many people adore for her work in the area. In addition to what she has already accomplished, many more things are expected of her as she shows off more fluid motions and ball proficiency. She has unmatched talent.