On the May 18th, 2019, Barcelona were up against Lyon in the women’s Champions League final. The women’s team was officially barred from using club colours, crests, logos, or identify under the FC Barcelona banner.Īnd yet, failure is what continues to drive this team. That was to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the match that women’s side Selecció Ciutat Barcelona played there on Christmas Day in 1970. An obsessed Barcelona fan, she, along with others, have come from playing on bad pitches at ridiculous times to being incorporated into the Estadi Johan Cruyff to leading Barcelona Femení out in the Camp Nou for the first time in 50 years. Poignant sports personality awards in store as Covid curbs celebrationsĪway from individual accolades, Putellas has become the perfect metaphor for women in sport in Spain.Peng Shuai: Chinese tennis star denies making sexual assault claims.Player representatives call for ‘genuine culture change’ in IRFU.Once dubbed the Queen of Catalonia alongside Gerard Pique by a magazine in Barcelona, Putellas could be your next Ballon d’Or winner. In the Champions League last season, Putellas finished with two goals, the most by a midfielder, and earned individual accolades to go alongside her season-best, 43 games, 26 goals and MVP in the Copa de la Reina. Former Barcelona president Josep Bartomeu saw a chance to grow the team and laid the foundations for the women’s team to succeed.įC Barcelona Femení were now incorporated in with the men’s teams, Lieke Mertens, the Dutch hero from their home European championships triumph, was bought, and the long-awaited return of Jenni Hermoso boosted a young but talented team.Īdd to that, Alexia Putellas was finally finding her form in this team as an offensive midfielder, constantly driving the ball in transition and getting a few goals along the way. The federation constantly left the Spanish team under resourced, and the tension eventually led to Vero Boquete walking away in her prime.Īway from individual accolades, Putellas has become the perfect metaphor for women in sport in Spainīut, the seed was sown, and many teams saw that women’s football was growing in popularity. The Spanish women’s national team had players, such as Vero Boquete, Melanie Serrano and others, and eventually qualified for their first World Cup in 2015. At the time, the team and the league were nowhere near professional, stuck in amateur mode and usually cast aside as a thorn in the football federation’s side. It was only 15 years ago FC Barcelona Femení were training on whatever pitch was available, usually turf, usually patchy and usually at ridiculous hours of the day. But, away from the men’s team going up in flames, FC Barcelona Femení are thriving, and at the heart of it is their captain, leader and new legend, Alexia Putellas. Debt, ridiculous wage bills and politics that are so insane, turmoil is the default setting. You would be forgiven if you thought FC Barcelona were in meltdown mode.