UEFA confirmed Alexia Putellas as the 2025-26 Women’s Champions League Player of the Season on May 25, following Barcelona’s commanding 4-0 final victory over OL Lyonnes in Oslo.

The Spanish captain dominated the competition with 14 direct goal contributions across 11 appearances, recording seven goals and seven assists while maintaining 86.73 per cent passing accuracy. This ends Aitana Bonmati’s three consecutive Player of the Season awards from 2023 through 2025. Nobody deserves this more.

The Numbers Demand Recognition

Fourteen goal contributions in 11 Champions League appearances is an extraordinary output for a central midfielder. Putellas clocked a top speed of 25.77 kilometres per hour while maintaining elite technical precision throughout.

She was the competition’s most productive player by direct contribution and the driving force behind every significant Barcelona performance. She returned from an ACL injury in 2022 that many feared might end her dominance entirely. Four years later she has won her second Women’s Champions League Player of the Season award and her third Ballon d’Or.

The comeback narrative remains one of women’s football’s most compelling stories.

Bonmati Ended Barcelona’s Internal Rivalry

Bonmati suffered a broken fibula during Spain’s training camp in November 2025 and missed the entire knockout phase. Her absence created space for Putellas to reassert individual dominance within a squad already stacked with world-class talent.

Both players coexisting at Barcelona creates an extraordinary internal standard that elevates the entire squad collectively.

The Team of the Season and Yohannes Recognition

Barcelona dominated the Team of the Season with Cata Coll, Mapi Leon, Patri Guijarro, Ewa Pajor and Putellas all selected. Lyon’s American teenager Lily Yohannes claimed the Revelation of the Season award after three goal involvements in ten appearances during her debut season following her arrival from Ajax last summer. Julia Bartel’s stunning volley for Atletico Madrid against Twente won Goal of the Season.

Also read: 18yo Wins Liverpool Women’s Player of the Month for April After Stunning FA Cup Winner on Return From 400-Day Injury Absence

Barcelona confirmed on May 26 that Alexia Putellas is leaving the club after 14 years. The 32-year-old captain posted on Instagram saying she wanted her final moment to arrive when she was at her best and giving everything with 100 per cent energy.

That moment came Saturday in Oslo, winning a fourth Champions League title against Lyon before being crowned Player of the Season. London City Lionesses have held positive talks with Putellas for months and offered a contract significantly exceeding Barcelona’s terms.

London City’s Boldest Statement Yet

Michele Kang’s project at London City is audacious. Sixth place in their debut WSL season, no European football next term and still pursuing the two-time Ballon d’Or winner who just captained Barcelona to a continental quadruple.

The three-year deal on the table reportedly reflects Putellas’ status as one of the greatest players alive. London City have already approached Mapi Leon and Mary Earps while retaining Kosovare Asllani and Grace Geyoro.

Signing Putellas would represent the biggest transfer in WSL history without question. The question is whether she accepts the absence of Champions League football as an acceptable trade-off.

NWSL Competition Changes Everything

The NWSL’s new High Impact Player rule allows clubs to exceed the salary cap by up to $1 million, meaning Putellas could earn approximately $1 million per season in the United States. That creates genuine competition for London City. NWSL clubs are monitoring her situation closely. Putellas wants the World Cup in 2027 and maximum visibility matters enormously for a player tipped to win a third Ballon d’Or later this year.

The Barcelona Legacy She Leaves Behind

424 appearances. 189 goals. 10 Liga F titles. 4 Champions Leagues. 2 Ballon d’Or awards. Putellas is irreplaceable at Barcelona. She knows it. They know it. This farewell was inevitable but no less remarkable for the manner of her exit at the very top of her game.

Aitana Bonmati has offered a fascinating insight into how Barcelona have processed their defeat to Arsenal in last season’s Women’s Champions League final, arguing that losing the title to the Gunners was exactly what the team needed to avoid complacency and rediscover their hunger.

The Catalan side lost 1-0 to Arsenal in the 2025 final, ending their run of back-to-back UWCL titles. They have responded in emphatic fashion this season, winning eight and drawing two across the competition, scoring 37 goals and conceding just eight. That is the form of a team that took defeat personally and used it as fuel.

Bonmati’s Perspective on Defeat and Growth

The three-time Ballon d’Or winner was speaking ahead of Saturday’s final against OL Lyonnes in Oslo and was thoughtful and measured in how she framed the Arsenal loss.

She made the point that teams which win consistently risk getting stuck in patterns and losing their edge, and that a defeat forces a rebuild of energy and purpose that sustained success alone cannot provide. For a player of her intelligence, it is a genuinely compelling way to look at it.

A Different Final for Bonmati Personally

This one carries extra significance for Bonmati because she has spent the last five months recovering from a fibula fracture suffered on international duty with Spain in December.

She has not had the rhythm of minutes she would have wanted heading into a final of this magnitude, but she was clear that contributing however she can matters more than personal preparation.

Putellas Also Motivated by Oslo

Captain Alexia Putellas has had one of her finest seasons, racking up 26 goals and 13 assists in 49 appearances across all competitions. She pointed out that reaching six consecutive Women’s Champions League finals is historically unprecedented, and that Barcelona’s ambition goes beyond simply being there. They want to win it, and they go into Oslo as favourites.

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