Alexia Putellas was always Alexia Putellas. Tired of the eternal return, of always remembering the ghost of her cruciate ligament injury. She is another player for FC Barcelona, a team in which “no one has a guaranteed position”, as her new coach, Pere Romeu, stated in an interview with Morning Express. She has earned her place and ownership hard. And on the field, his aura, his technique and his innate but worked leadership remain intact. A little over a year ago she became Barça’s top female scorer with 182 goals after surpassing Jenni Hermoso against Atlético de Madrid. On Saturday, in the match against Real Madrid, she once again did the exceptional thing that has become habitual for her: breaking records and writing history. With 199 goals, she surpasses Luis Suárez (198 goals) and becomes Barcelona’s third top scorer, not so far from César Rodríguez (232) if we take into account her contract until 2026 with a possible one-year extension, but facing an abyss of the culé legend Leo Messi —672—. She made it onto the podium against Madrid, shortly after being proclaimed the best player of October in the F League, and was applauded by Alfredo di Stéfano. “There’s just a queen: Alexia Putellas(There is only one queen: Alexia Putellas)”, they sang to her in the locker room after the game and before Marta Torrejón gave her a commemorative t-shirt. From the Ciudad Deportiva there had been talk for weeks and weeks about the captain’s desire to score. Each match was a date marked in red. Although Alexia, in a meeting with the media days before the classic, assured that she did not think about it too much. But with a twinkle in his eye and half a smile, he was clear: “I know it won’t be the last. I will go for more.”
“When he comes out, he pushes the entire team,” they say from the Ciudad Deportiva. “He is in a great moment,” other sources share. Not only on a sporting level, they explain — “if she is like this now, wait until February,” say those who work with her — but also mentally and emotionally, with a maturity that gives her extra peace and tranquility. “We already know what Alexia is. She is a player with a very high scoring ability, who playing between the lines is easy for this last pass and for arriving at the area,” confessed Romeu after Alexia equalized Suárez against Eibar. “It’s something very big. She is a great player and we are very proud,” said Ingrid Engen. And Ona Batlle followed her: “Alexia has a lot of goals, a lot of finish, great quality. I think in the end it’s not just that, but also the work behind it. It is incredible and it is very nice to be able to experience it with her.” Behind the scenes, that day after the game against Eibar, Hristo Stoichkov congratulated the captain in the hallway that leads to the Barça locker room. A few days ago she had returned to the ranking of the best players in the world at the Ballon d’Or gala, finishing in tenth position. The team was also recognized with an award, and the captain couldn’t help but remember her former coach, Jonatan Giráldez, and wrote to him. “In addition to being a player who has marked history, these details speak very well about who she is as a person,” explains the Galician coach from the United States over the phone. And he adds: “He assists and scores many goals. He will have many options to reach the second. I know her mentality, she will not give up, and for her it will be an anecdote to surpass this figure. He will go for more.”
His first goal for Barcelona came when he was 18, on September 30, 2012 in a match against Sant Gabriel. Twelve seasons later, her ability to offer balls between the lines, to assist her teammates and, above all, to score despite her status as a midfielder continues to surprise, although she has also adopted the role of false nine on occasion last year with Jonatan Giráldez and began his career as a winger. Last year was complicated, with opinions of all kinds due to its late renewal, rumors about the financial amounts he was asking for and the discomfort in his operated knee for which he underwent surgery again. In the locker room, “honest” conversations and always a good “attitude” about his then secondary role in the team. “I really appreciate how he has managed it. “He has been very professional,” explains Giráldez. Alexia was always out of the noise, in silence, performing on the pitch, finding her level, and decided to stay at the club of her life despite offers from other countries that far exceeded her salary at Barcelona. And he finished last season with a goal that sealed the victory against Olympique Lyon in the Champions League final in Bilbao, and confirmed the third continental title. He only played the addition. But his image taking off his shirt after scoring was captured in the culé imagination.
This year, with Pere Romeu leading the bench, his position has completely established itself, his leadership in games such as against Espanyol being fundamental. The Catalan derby began with the score at a disadvantage for Barcelona. Top scorer Ewa Pajor equalized it, but Alexia came out in the second half, took the team on her back and scored two goals that ended in a bloody rout. Against Real Madrid he once again demonstrated his definition in a goal that flew over the head of Misa Rodríguez. This season there are already nine goals and five assists in 13 games, all possible with the club. He started nine of them, and in total he accumulated more than 890 minutes. She is also the second top scorer in League F with eight goals, one less than Pajor.
The first Spanish woman to win a Ballon d’Or; the first to lift two in a row. The first woman to enter the top five of Barcelona’s top scorers, and now on the podium, in third position. The first in the ranking with the most caps for Spain, 127 matches, and the most successful Spanish footballer with 34 titles. “No one has given Alexia anything. She has worked and fought everything until the last attempt, and she continues to do so,” say voices close to the captain. Throughout his career, he has scored goals that the fans will not forget. The first for a footballer at the Johan Cruyff, but also at the Camp Nou; that goal in the Queen’s Cup final against Zaragoza in 2013; or the penalty in the Göteborg Champions League final, the first culé continental title. Now the one who sentenced the win against Real Madrid. All direct to Barça history, like her, who continues to reign.
