Alexia Putellas: The Life Story Behind Spain's Midfield Queen
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Alexia Putellas is the midfielder who made Barcelona the best team in the world. She is not a striker, and she does not score as many goals as the forwards, but she is the player who makes everything work. She passes, she creates, she scores when it matters, and she leads. She has won the Ballon d’Or twice, she has won the Champions League three times with Barcelona, and she has won the World Cup with Spain. She is known in Spain as La Reina, the Queen, and the name fits her.
Putellas was born in Mollet del Vallès, a town near Barcelona in Catalonia, on 4 February 1994. She grew up in a football family, and she started playing as a child. She was a talented midfielder from the start, with a left foot that could pass the ball anywhere, and with a vision that let her see passes other players could not see. She joined the youth teams at Espanyol, and then she played for Levante, before she joined Barcelona in 2012. She was eighteen, and she was home. Barcelona was the club she had supported as a child, and she would spend the rest of her career there.
What makes her story different is the loss she suffered when she was young. Her father, Jaume, died suddenly in 2012, when she was eighteen and had just joined Barcelona. It was a devastating blow, and it shaped the rest of her life. She dedicates her goals to him, and she points to the sky when she scores. She has said that her father is with her every time she plays, and that she plays for him as well as for herself. That is a story of grief and of love, and it is at the heart of who she is.
This is the story of a girl from Mollet who became the queen of Barcelona, who won the Ballon d’Or twice, and who helped Spain win the World Cup, all while carrying the memory of her father with her.
Growing Up in Mollet del Vallès, Near Barcelona
Alexia Putellas Segura was born on 4 February 1994 in Mollet del Vallès, a town in Catalonia, near Barcelona. She grew up in a family that loved football, and her father Jaume was a Barcelona supporter who took her to matches and who encouraged her to play. She started playing football as a young child, and she was soon recognised as one of the best young players in Catalonia. She was a midfielder, a player who controls the game from the middle of the pitch, and she had a left foot that was special. She could pass the ball over long distances, she could dribble past opponents, and she could shoot from outside the box.
She played for the youth teams at Sabadell and then at Espanyol, one of the clubs in Barcelona, and she learned to play in the Catalan style, with short passes, with movement, and with intelligence. The Catalan style is about keeping the ball, about passing and moving, and about out-thinking the opponent rather than out-running them. Putellas was perfect for that style, because she was clever, and she understood the game in a way that few players do. She was not the fastest player, and she was not the strongest, but she was the smartest, and that made her the best.
When she was a teenager, she played for Levante, a club in Valencia, where she gained experience in the top division in Spain. She was seventeen, and she was playing against grown women, and she was holding her own. She scored goals, she created chances, and she showed that she could compete at the highest level. In 2012, when she was eighteen, Barcelona signed her, and she came home. It was the move she had dreamed of since she was a child, and it was the start of a career that would make her one of the greatest midfielders in the world.
But 2012 was also the year that changed her life in a sad way. Her father Jaume died suddenly, when she was eighteen, and just after she had joined Barcelona. It was a shock, and it was a loss that she has carried with her ever since. She has spoken about how hard it was, and about how her father had been her biggest supporter. She dedicates her goals to him, and she points to the sky when she scores, a gesture that has become famous. She plays for him, and she plays with him in her heart.
Building Barcelona Into the Best Team in Europe
When Putellas joined Barcelona in 2012, the women’s team was not yet the best in Europe. It was a good team, but it was not dominant, and it had not won the Champions League. Putellas became part of a generation of players who changed that. She played alongside players like Jennifer Hermoso, Lieke Martens, and later Aitana Bonmatí, and together they built a team that played beautiful football and that won everything.
Barcelona reached the Champions League final in 2019, where they lost to Olympique Lyon, the best team in Europe at the time. It was a disappointment, but it showed that Barcelona were close. Two years later, in 2021, they won the Champions League for the first time, beating Chelsea 4-0 in the final in Gothenburg. Putellas was the captain, and she scored a goal in the final, a penalty, and she lifted the trophy. It was a historic moment for Barcelona, and it was the start of a period of dominance.
In 2021, Putellas also won the Ballon d’Or, the award for the best female footballer in the world. She was the first Spanish player, man or woman, to win the award since Luis Suárez in 1960, and she won it again in 2022, becoming the first woman to win it twice in a row. She was the best player in the world, and she was the captain of the best team in the world. She was twenty-seven, and she was at the peak of her powers.
She was not just a goalscorer. She was a midfielder who controlled the game, who passed the ball, who created chances, and who scored important goals. She was the player that Barcelona built their team around, and she was the player that opponents feared most. She was La Reina, the Queen, and the Camp Nou, Barcelona’s famous stadium, became her kingdom. When Barcelona’s women’s team played at the Camp Nou, the crowds were huge, with more than 90,000 people watching, and Putellas was the star they had come to see.
The ACL Injury and the Long Road Back
In July 2022, just before the European Championship in England, Putellas suffered a serious knee injury while training with Spain. She tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee, known as an ACL, and she needed surgery. The injury meant that she would miss the Euros, and it meant that she would be out of football for many months. It was a devastating blow, and it came at a time when she was the best player in the world.
Spain went to the Euros without her, and they were knocked out in the quarter-final by England, the eventual winners. Putellas watched from home, and she knew that her team needed her. She worked hard to recover, and she went through surgery and a long period of rehabilitation. She had to rebuild the strength in her knee, and she had to learn to run and to kick again. It was a slow process, and it was frustrating, but she was determined to come back.
She returned to action in April 2023, almost ten months after the injury, and she was back in time for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in the summer of 2023. She was not fully fit, and she did not play every match, but she was part of the squad, and she played in the final against England. Spain won the World Cup, beating England 1-0, and Putellas was a world champion. It was a remarkable comeback, and it showed that she had the resilience to return from a serious injury and to win the biggest prize in football.
The World Cup win was a triumph for Spain, but it was also a difficult time for the team. After the tournament, there were problems within the Spanish federation, and the players spoke out about the need for change. Putellas was one of the players who spoke up, and she was part of the group that demanded better treatment for the women’s team. She was not just a footballer. She was a leader, and she used her voice to fight for her team-mates.
More Champions Leagues and the Captain’s Role
After the World Cup, Putellas continued to play for Barcelona, and she helped the team win the Champions League again in 2023 and in 2024. She was the captain, and she was the leader of a team that was now the best in Europe. She won league titles in Spain, she won cups, and she continued to be one of the best midfielders in the world. She was no longer the young player who had joined Barcelona in 2012. She was the veteran, the captain, and the queen.
She also continued to play for Spain, and she helped the team reach the final of the European Championship in Switzerland in 2025, where they lost to England on penalties. It was a disappointment, but it showed that Spain were still one of the best teams in the world. Putellas was thirty-one, and she was still one of the key players in the team. She had been through an ACL injury, she had won the World Cup, and she was still competing at the highest level.
Her role as captain is an important part of her story. She is not a loud captain, but she leads by example, by working hard, by playing well, and by supporting her team-mates. She is respected by her team-mates, and she is loved by the fans. When she lifts a trophy, the crowd cheers for her, because they know what she has been through, and they know what she means to the club.
She has also become a role model for young girls in Catalonia and in Spain. She is a player who grew up near Barcelona, who joined the club she supported as a child, and who became its captain and its queen. She shows young players that it is possible to achieve your dreams, and that hard work and dedication can take you to the top. She is La Reina, and she will be remembered as one of the greatest players in the history of Barcelona.
What Putellas Means to Barcelona and Spain
Alexia Putellas means everything to Barcelona. She is the captain, she is the best midfielder, and she is the player who led the team to three Champions League titles. She is the first Barcelona women’s player to win the Ballon d’Or, and she won it twice. She is the player who filled the Camp Nou with more than 90,000 fans, and she is the player who made women’s football in Barcelona a major event. She is, quite simply, the queen of the club.
She also means a lot to Spain. She was part of the team that won the World Cup in 2023, the first time Spain had ever won the tournament, and she was part of the generation that changed Spanish women’s football forever. Before her generation, Spain were not one of the best teams in the world. After her, they were world champions. She helped to make that happen, and she did it as a midfielder who controlled the game and who led by example.
Her story is also about her father, and about the loss that shaped her. She plays for him, and she points to the sky when she scores, and that gesture has become one of the most recognisable in football. It is a reminder that behind every great player there is a family, and that loss can be a source of strength as well as pain. Putellas turned her grief into motivation, and she became the best player in the world.
Today, Putellas is still playing for Barcelona, and she is still the captain. She is one of the most respected players in the world, and she is a hero in Catalonia. Her story is far from over, and Barcelona fans will be cheering for her for years to come.
The Camp Nou Nights: 90,000 Fans
One of the most remarkable things about Alexia Putellas’s career is what happened at the Camp Nou, Barcelona’s famous stadium, in 2022. For years, Barcelona’s women’s team had played at a smaller ground, and the crowds were modest. Then, in March 2022, they played a Champions League quarter-final against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou, and more than 91,000 people came to watch. It was a world record crowd for a women’s football match, and Putellas was the captain. She scored in the match, and Barcelona won, and the whole world saw what women’s football could be.
A few weeks later, they played a semi-final against Wolfsburg at the Camp Nou, and again more than 91,000 people came. The stadium was full, the atmosphere was electric, and Putellas was at the centre of it. She was the queen of the Camp Nou, and the fans had come to see her. It was a moment that changed women’s football in Spain forever, because it showed that a women’s match could fill the biggest stadium in Europe, and that fans would pay to watch it.
The Camp Nou nights were not just about the crowd. They were about what they meant for the players. Putellas had joined Barcelona in 2012, when the women’s team was a small part of the club, and she had watched it grow year by year. Now, ten years later, she was playing in front of 91,000 people at the Camp Nou, and she was the captain. It was a reward for a decade of hard work, and it was a sign of how far the sport had come. She had helped to build that, and she was proud of it.
The record crowds also showed that women’s football in Spain had arrived. Before the Camp Nou nights, many people said that no one wanted to watch women’s football. After them, no one could say that again. The fans had spoken, and they had come in their tens of thousands. Putellas was the player they had come to see, and she did not disappoint. She played with her usual intelligence and grace, and she led her team to victory. It was a night that will be remembered for as long as people talk about women’s football.
Putellas’s early career at Levante is another part of her story that shows how determined she was from a young age. She left Barcelona to play for Levante in Valencia when she was seventeen, because she wanted to play in the top division and to gain experience. It was a brave decision, because she was leaving home, and she was playing for a club far from her family. She handled it well, and she scored goals, and she proved that she could compete at the highest level. When Barcelona signed her in 2012, she was ready, and she came home as a better player. That willingness to leave home and to challenge herself is a sign of her ambition, and it is one of the reasons she became so great.
She also played for the Spanish youth teams, and she was part of the generation that changed Spanish women’s football. Spain had never been one of the best teams in the world, but Putellas and her generation changed that. They won the World Cup in 2023, and they reached the final of the European Championship in 2025. They did it by playing beautiful football, with short passes and with intelligence, and Putellas was at the centre of it. She was the midfielder who made the team work, and she was the player that opponents feared most.
She also won the Spanish league title many times with Barcelona, and she was the captain of a team that dominated Spanish football for years. Barcelona won the league season after season, and Putellas was at the centre of it. She scored goals, she created chances, and she led the team. She was not just a Champions League player. She was a league player too, and she won consistently, year after year. That dominance in Spain mattered, because it showed that Barcelona were the best team in the country, and that Putellas was the best player in the country.
Putellas also became a symbol of Catalan football, and she is loved by fans in Catalonia because she grew up there and because she represents the region. She speaks Catalan, she is proud of her roots, and she plays for the club that represents Catalonia. That connection to home matters, and it is part of why she is so popular. She is not just a footballer. She is a daughter of Catalonia, and she carries that identity with her every time she plays. Young girls in Catalonia look up to her, and they dream of following in her footsteps. She gives them belief, and she gives them a hero.
She also became one of the most recognisable athletes in Spain, and she appeared in advertisements and on television. She used her fame to promote women’s football, and to encourage young girls to play. She visited schools, she spoke to young players, and she showed them that they could dream big. That work matters, because it gives young athletes a role model, and it shows them that football is a sport for everyone. Putellas is not just a player. She is an ambassador for the sport, and she takes that role seriously.
Putellas also played a key role in Spain’s run to the final of the European Championship in 2025, where they lost to England on penalties. She was thirty-one, and she was still one of the best players in the team. She had been through an ACL injury, she had won the World Cup, and she was still competing at the highest level. That longevity is a sign of her professionalism, and of her love for the game. She did not give up after her injury. She came back, and she kept playing, and she kept winning. That is a story of resilience, and it is one that I find deeply inspiring.
She also won the Spanish Super Cup with Barcelona, and she was part of a team that won every domestic trophy available. Barcelona dominated Spanish football for years, and Putellas was at the centre of it. She was the captain, she was the best midfielder, and she was the player that the team relied on. She won the league, she won the cup, and she won the Champions League. She won everything there was to win, and she did it with the same intelligence and grace she shows in every match.
My Take:
I think Alexia Putellas is the midfielder I admire most for her intelligence, because she plays football with her brain as much as with her feet. She is not the fastest player, and she is not the strongest, but she is the smartest. She sees passes that other players cannot see, and she controls the game in a way that few midfielders can. When I watch her play, I see a player who thinks two or three moves ahead, like a chess player. That intelligence is what made her the best in the world, and it is what made Barcelona the best team in the world.
What moves me most about her is her father. He died in 2012, when she was eighteen and had just joined Barcelona, and she has carried his memory with her ever since. She points to the sky when she scores, and she has said that her father is with her every time she plays. I think that is a beautiful thing, and it is a reminder that grief does not go away. It stays with you, and you learn to live with it, and you learn to turn it into something good. Putellas turned her grief into motivation, and she became the best player in the world. That is a powerful story, and it is one that I think many people can relate to.
I also think about the Ballon d’Or awards, because they are extraordinary. She won the award in 2021 and again in 2022, becoming the first woman to win it twice in a row. She was the first Spanish player to win it since 1960, which shows how long Spain had waited for a player like her. I think those awards matter, because they recognised her as the best in the world, and they recognised Barcelona as the best team in the world. She did not win them by scoring the most goals. She won them by being the most complete player, by controlling the game, and by leading her team. That is a different kind of greatness, and it deserves to be celebrated.
The ACL injury in 2022 is the part of her story that I think about most, because it shows her resilience. She tore her cruciate ligament just before the European Championship, and she missed the tournament. She had to go through surgery, and she had to spend months in rehabilitation. She came back in April 2023, and she played at the World Cup, and she won it. That is a remarkable comeback, and it shows that she is not just a talented player. She is a tough player, and she is a determined player. Many players never come back the same after an ACL injury. Putellas came back and won the World Cup. That is an extraordinary achievement.
I think the World Cup win in 2023 is also complicated, because it was a triumph and a difficult time at the same time. Spain won the tournament, but after it there were problems within the federation, and the players had to fight for better treatment. Putellas was one of the players who spoke up, and she was part of the group that demanded change. I think that is important, because it shows that she is not just a footballer. She is a leader, and she is willing to use her voice. She won the World Cup, and then she fought for her team-mates. That is a legacy that matters.
I also think about the Camp Nou, and about the crowds of more than 90,000 people who came to watch Barcelona’s women’s team play. That had never happened before, and it happened because of Putellas and her team-mates. They made women’s football in Barcelona a major event, and they showed that women’s football could fill the biggest stadium in Europe. I think that is a remarkable achievement, and it is one that will inspire young girls in Catalonia for years to come. When a young girl sees 90,000 people watching a women’s match, she knows that she can dream big.
There is a part of me that wishes Putellas had been given more recognition earlier in her career, because she was a great player for many years before she won the Ballon d’Or. She joined Barcelona in 2012, and she was a key player for almost a decade before she became the best in the world. That is a long time to wait, and it shows how patient she was. She did not become a star overnight. She worked, she improved, and she waited for her moment. When it came, in 2021, she was ready, and she took it.
If I had to choose one lesson from her life, it would be this. Play with your brain, and play with your heart. Putellas plays with intelligence, and she plays with love for her father and for her club. She is the queen of Barcelona, and she earned that title by being the smartest player on the pitch and by being the most dedicated. That is a lesson for anyone, not just for footballers. Use your mind, and remember why you do what you do, and you can achieve great things.
In the end, I think Alexia Putellas’s story is about intelligence, grief, and leadership. She is the best midfielder in the world, she is the captain of Barcelona, and she is a world champion with Spain. She carries the memory of her father with her every time she plays, and she points to the sky when she scores. That is a story that will be remembered for as long as people talk about football, and it is a story that deserves to be told.
I also think about the Camp Nou nights in 2022, because they are some of the most important moments in the history of women’s football. More than 91,000 people came to watch Barcelona play at the Camp Nou, and Putellas was the captain. I try to imagine what that must have felt like, to walk out onto the pitch and to see the stadium full, and to know that all those people had come to watch you play. It must have been an overwhelming feeling, and I think Putellas deserved it. She had been at Barcelona for ten years, and she had helped to build the team into the best in Europe. The crowd was a reward for that work, and it was a sign that women’s football had arrived.
There is something else I want to say about her leadership, because it is quiet and it is effective. She is not a loud captain, and she does not shout at her team-mates. She leads by example, by working hard, by playing well, and by supporting the players around her. That is a different kind of leadership, and it is one that I admire. In a world where leaders are often the loudest people in the room, Putellas shows that you can lead quietly, and that you can lead by being the best at what you do. Her team-mates respect her, and they follow her, because they know she will always give her best.
I think about the young girls in Catalonia who watch her and who dream of playing for Barcelona. They see a player who grew up near the city, who joined the club she supported as a child, and who became its captain and its queen. That is a powerful story, and it is one that gives young players belief. They do not have to come from far away to be great. They can come from Mollet del Vallès, a town near Barcelona, and they can become the best player in the world. Putellas proved that, and she did it with grace and with humility.
One last thought stays with me. Putellas’s story is about loss and about love, and about how the two can live together. She lost her father when she was eighteen, and she has carried his memory with her ever since. She points to the sky when she scores, and she plays for him. That is a beautiful thing, and it is a reminder that the people we lose do not leave us. They stay with us, in our hearts, and they give us strength. Putellas found strength in her father’s memory, and she became the best player in the world. I hope she knows how proud he would be of her.
I also think about the fact that Putellas was the first Spanish player to win the Ballon d’Or since 1960, which shows how long Spain had waited for a player like her. Sixty-one years is a long time, and it shows how special she is. She did not just win the award once. She won it twice, in 2021 and 2022, and she became the first woman to win it in consecutive years. That is a remarkable achievement, and it is one that will be remembered for as long as people talk about Spanish football. She is not just the best player in Spain. She is one of the best players in the history of the sport.
One more thought stays with me. Putellas’s story is about a girl from Mollet who became the queen of Barcelona, and who did it by being the smartest player on the pitch. She plays with her brain, she plays with her heart, and she plays for her father. That combination of intelligence, love, and dedication is what made her great, and it is what will keep her great for years to come. I hope young players hear her story, and I hope they learn that you do not have to be the fastest or the strongest to be the best. You just have to be the smartest, and the most dedicated, and Putellas proved that.
I also think about the fact that Putellas has played for Barcelona for more than a decade, from 2012 to the present day, and that she has become the heart of the club. She is not just a player. She is a symbol of Barcelona, and she is loved by the fans because she grew up supporting the club and because she stayed with it. In a world where players move clubs every few years, Putellas stayed, and she built something special. That loyalty matters, and it is one of the reasons she is so respected. She is La Reina, and she is Barcelona’s queen.
I also think about the fact that Putellas’s two Ballon d’Or awards came in consecutive years, which is a feat that very few players have achieved. She won in 2021 and again in 2022, and she was the first woman to do so. That shows that she was not just the best for one year. She was the best for two years in a row, and she was getting better all the time. That consistency is what makes her great, and it is what separates her from other players. She did not have one great season. She had two, and she was the best in the world in both of them.
I also think about the fact that Putellas’s father, Jaume, would be proud of what she has achieved, and that she plays for him every time she steps onto the pitch. She points to the sky when she scores, and that gesture has become one of the most recognisable in football. It is a reminder that the people we lose do not leave us. They stay with us, in our hearts, and they give us strength. Drawing on that memory, she rose to become the best player in the world. I hope she knows how proud he would be of her, and I hope she keeps pointing to the sky for many years to come.
I also think about the fact that Putellas’s story is one of the most complete in football, because she has won everything there is to win at club level, and she has won the World Cup with her country. She is a Ballon d’Or winner, a Champions League winner, and a world champion. There is very little left for her to achieve, and yet she keeps playing, because she loves the game. That love is what drives her, and it is what makes her great. She does not play for trophies. She plays because she loves football, and the trophies follow.
I also think about the fact that Putellas’s story is one of the most moving in football, because she plays for her father every time she steps onto the pitch. She points to the sky when she scores, and that gesture has become famous around the world. It is a reminder that the people we love do not leave us, and that they give us strength. That memory carried her to the very top of the game. That is a beautiful story, and it is one that will be remembered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where was Alexia Putellas born?
Alexia Putellas was born on 4 February 1994 in Mollet del Vallès, a town near Barcelona in Catalonia, Spain. She grew up supporting Barcelona and joined the club in 2012, after playing for Espanyol’s youth teams and Levante.
How many Ballon d’Or awards has Alexia Putellas won?
Putellas won the Ballon d’Or Féminin twice, in 2021 and 2022, becoming the first woman to win the award in two consecutive years. She was the first Spanish player, man or woman, to win the Ballon d’Or since Luis Suárez in 1960.
Why does Alexia Putellas point to the sky when she scores?
Putellas points to the sky when she scores to honour her father Jaume, who died suddenly in 2012 when she was eighteen and had just joined Barcelona. She has said that her father is with her every time she plays, and the gesture is her way of dedicating her goals to him.
What happened to Alexia Putellas before Euro 2022?
Just before the European Championship in 2022, Putellas tore the anterior cruciate ligament in her knee while training with Spain and needed surgery. She missed the tournament and was out for almost ten months, returning in April 2023 in time for the World Cup.
Did Alexia Putellas win the World Cup with Spain?
Yes, Putellas was part of the Spain squad that won the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand in 2023, beating England 1-0 in the final. She had returned from her ACL injury earlier that year and played in the tournament, including in the final.
How many Champions Leagues has Alexia Putellas won with Barcelona?
Putellas has won the UEFA Women’s Champions League three times with Barcelona, in 2021, 2023 and 2024, as the captain of the team. She also reached the final in 2019 and 2022, and she scored in the 2021 final against Chelsea.
