Tag: alexia putellas

Aitana, Alexia both strike as Barcelona claims third Women’s Champions League crown

Barça is once again in a class of its own after seeing off Lyon’s challenge in the UWCL final

Barcelona made sure that the Jonatan Giráldez era will end in style.

Barça on Saturday won the UEFA Women’s Champions League for the third time, outlasting Lyon 2-0 before a crowd of 50,827, a record for a Women’s Champions League final.

Aitana Bonmatí and Alexia Putellas scored second-half goals for Barça, which defended its UWCL title. Along with this season’s league and cup double in Spain, the Catalan side has won three of the last four Champions Leagues, with the streak only interrupted by a shock loss to Lyon in the 2021-22 final.

Giráldez will leave Barcelona at the end of the Spanish season to take charge of the Washington Spirit, who made the impressive move of signing the Spanish coach away from what is considered the biggest club in women’s soccer. His final match in charge will be June 16’s Liga F clash with Valencia.

Thoughts about that were put to the side at San Mámes, where Barcelona was more often than not able to play Lyon on its own terms.

However, the French giants — featuring U.S. women’s national team star Lindsey Horan — held firm through the first half, raising memories of how things played out two years ago.

Additionally, Lyon had entered the match having won every single one of the past four meetings between these sides, even as Barcelona has otherwise seemed to take over as the club perceived to be the world’s best.

However, any Barça worries were settled by Ballon d’Or winner Aitana Bonmatí, whose angled shot in the 63rd minute took a fortuitous deflection off of Damaris Egurrola to zip past goalkeeper Christiane Endler.

Lyon predictably responded by throwing the kitchen sink at Barcelona, including sending star striker Ada Hegerberg — a fitness doubt coming into the final — into the fray.

Barça had some narrow escapes, particularly on some deep crosses into heavy traffic that pushed Cata Coll to her limits.

A late equalizer felt like a possibility, but Barcelona had the perfect answer. Once again the attack came to the left of Endler’s goal, with Clàudia Pina cutting back from the endline to set Alexia Putellas up for a precise first-time shot.

The stoppage-time strike settled the match, setting off delirious celebrations for a heavily pro-Barça crowd.

“I’m really happy,” Giráldez told DAZN after the match. “One of the best days of my life, for sure. We did an amazing job… we suffered in the last minutes, but I’m very proud of [the team].”

Giráldez’s departure may well prove to be a major factor in European women’s soccer, but Barcelona will still carry on with an extremely formidable lineup. On Tuesday, the club announced that it had signed Alexia to a contract extension through 2026, settling rumors that one of the team’s biggest stars could possibly be on her way out this summer.

In other words, the star-studded squad figures to have a serious chance of making it three in a row at this time next year.

[lawrence-related id=37499,36533,61864]

Messi and Putellas win 2022 FIFA Best awards

More silverware for the Argentina and Spain stars

Lionel Messi has been named the 2022 Best FIFA Men’s Player, while Alexia Putellas has won the Best FIFA Women’s Player.

Messi beat out fellow finalists Kylian Mbappé and Karim Benzema, while Putellas won the award over Alex Morgan and Beth Mead. It was the second straight year that the Barcelona and Spain midfielder won the award.

For Messi, it was the second time he’s won Best FIFA Men’s Player after also winning in 2019. The award was formerly known as the FIFA World Player of the Year, and was then the FIFA Ballon d’Or from 2010 to 2015.

In 2016, France Football regained control of the Ballon d’Or, which Messi has won a record seven times.

Messi was expected to win the prize after leading Argentina to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, winning the Golden Ball as the tournament’s best player.

Putellas led Barcelona to a domestic treble in 2021-22, before tearing her ACL on the eve of Spain’s Euro 2022 campaign.

The Best FIFA Men’s Player, Best FIFA Men’s Coach and Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper were awarded for performances between August 8, 2021 and December 18, 2022.

For the same awards on the women’s side, the period was August 7, 2021 to July 31, 2022.

2022 FIFA Best winners

The Best FIFA Women’s Goalkeeper: Mary Earps, Manchester United and England

The Best FIFA Men’s Goalkeeper: Emiliano Martínez, Aston Villa and Argentina

The Best FIFA Women’s Coach: Sarina Wiegman, England

The Best FIFA Men’s Coach: Lionel Scaloni, Argentina

FIFA Puskás Award: Marcin Oleksy, Warta Poznań

FIFA FIFPRO Men’s World 11: Thibaut Courtois, Achraf Hakimi, João Cancelo, Virgil van Dijk, Kevin De Bruyne, Luka Modrić, Casemiro, Lionel Messi, Kylian Mbappé, Karim Benzema

FIFA FIFPRO Women’s World 11: Christiane Endler, Lucy Bronze, Mapi León, Leah Williamson, Wendie Renard, Alexia Putellas, Keira Walsh, Lena Oberdorf, Alex Morgan, Sam Kerr, Beth Mead

Best FIFA Men’s Player: Lionel Messi

Best FIFA Women’s Player: Alexia Putellas

[lawrence-related id=13920,12576]

Alexia Putellas wins second consecutive Ballon d’Or

The 28-year-old has become the first back-to-back winner since the award was established

Barcelona and Spain star Alexia Putellas has won the Ballon d’Or for the second consecutive season.

Putellas was awarded the prize in 2021 for leading Barcelona to a treble, and was once again honored on Monday during a ceremony in Paris.

The 28-year-old had another sensational campaign at club level in 2021-22, though Barcelona fell short of another treble after losing to Lyon in the Champions League final.

Putellas was top scorer in last year’s Champions League with 11 goals in 10 games, and she added an incredible 18 goals and 15 assists from 26 games in the Spanish league.

Prior to Euro 2022, however, Putellas suffered a torn ACL, delivering a huge blow to Spain’s chances at the tournament. La Roja would eventually fall to England in the quarterfinals.

[lawrence-related id=8186,8185,7619]

Benzemá y Putellas los mejores de la UEFA

El reconocimiento a Benzemá del Real Madrid y a Alexia Putellas del Barcelona, demuestra el liderazgo y protagonismo que retomó LaLiga

Poco después del sorteo de la Champions League, se entregaron los UEFA Awards donde Karim Benzemá por la parte masculina y Alexia Putellas en la femenina fueron galardonados como los mejores jugadores de la temporada.

El reconocimiento a Benzemá del Real Madrid y a Alexia Putellas del Barcelona, demuestra el liderazgo y protagonismo que retomó LaLiga que se pensaba que con la salida de figuras como Messi y Cristiano Ronaldo perdería interés.

sipa-usa

No ha sido así, LaLiga Femenil también gana adeptos por todo el mundo y prueba del buen trabajo realizado es que su selección sub-20 femenil pelea el día de hoy su pase a la final de la Copa del Mundo.

Los premios a los entrenadores fueron para Carlo Ancelotti del Real Madrid quien llevó a los merengues a su Champions League número 14 en su historia y Sarina Wiegman, entrenadora neerlandesa de la selección de Inglaterra que cerró una temporada perfecta siendo campeonas de la Eurocopa y marcando más de 100 goles.

[lawrence-auto-related count=4]

Catarina Macario, Alex Morgan, Trinity Rodman represent USWNT on 2022 Ballon d’Or shortlist

Three USWNT players made France Football’s list of Ballon d’Or nominees

The 2022 Ballon d’Or nominees are out, and with three USWNT players making France Football’s 20-player shortlist.

Catarina Macario, Alex Morgan, and Trinity Rodman were all nominated for the award, which was inaugurated in 2018 after existing for over 60 years on the men’s side. The Ballon d’Or focuses on the 2021-22 season, rather than a calendar year body of work.

The USWNT has been somewhat curiously overlooked by the Ballon d’Or, with only the 2019 World Cup-winning team really registering with voters. That year, Megan Rapinoe won the Ballon d’Or, with Alex Morgan coming in third, but in 2018 and 2021 (there was no 2020 award due to the Covid-19 pandemic), no USWNT players or NWSL-based players made the top three.

Macario may be injured at the moment, but she emerged as a locked-in starter essentially from the moment she arrived at Lyon. She capped off a spectacular season in France by scoring in the Champions League final as Lyon defeated a Barcelona side that had lost just once all year coming into the match.

Morgan’s return from giving birth has included a change of club, but she’s also had arguably the best club season of her entire career with the San Diego Wave. Morgan has 15 goals in 18 competitive games for San Diego this season, and then won the Golden Ball at the CONCACAF W Championship after helping the USWNT qualify for both the 2023 World Cup and 2024 Olympics.

Rodman was one of the stories of the 2021 NWSL season, winning the Rookie of the Year award and being a crucial factor for the Washington Spirit’s run to their first-ever league championship. Since the start of August 2021, Rodman has posted 12 goals and 8 assists, including an equalizer in last year’s semifinal and the assist on the Kelley O’Hara goal that gave the Spirit their first trophy.

The USWNT trio are joined on the list by a familiar group of players who all happen to call Europe’s biggest clubs their home. Macario is one of five Lyon players nominated, while Barcelona matched that total, meaning that two clubs employ half of the list of nominees.

Arsenal, Chelsea, Paris Saint-Germain, and Wolfsburg had two players on the shortlist each, with the entirety of the NWSL being represented by Morgan and Rodman.

The full list of 2022 Women’s Ballon d’Or nominees

  • Selma Bacha (Lyon)
  • Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona)
  • Millie Bright (Chelsea)
  • Lucy Bronze (Barcelona)
  • Kadidiatou Diani (Paris Saint-Germain)
  • Christiane Endler (Lyon)
  • Ada Hegerberg (Lyon)
  • Marie-Antoinette Katoto (Paris Saint-Germain)
  • Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
  • Catarina Macario (Lyon)
  • Beth Mead (Arsenal)
  • Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal)\
  • Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave FC)
  • Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg)
  • Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona)
  • Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg)
  • Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)
  • Wendie Renard (Lyon)
  • Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit)
  • Fridolina Rolfö (Barcelona)

[lawrence-related id=4870,1306,2131]

¡Justicia! Lewandovsky le gana a Messi el The Best de FIFA

El polaco le ganó la partida a Lionel Messi y a Mohamed Salah y se colgó el premio tras marcar 69 goles en Alemania

Robert Lewandovsky, delantero del Bayern Munich fue galardonado por segundo año consecutivo con el premio The Best de la FIFA al mejor jugador masculino de futbol del 2021.

El polaco le ganó la partida a Lionel Messi y a Mohamed Salah y se colgó el premio tras marcar 69 goles en Alemania y conseguir la Bundesliga y la Supercopa teutona.

El polaco se mostró muy contento y orgulloso de recibir el premio el cual le dedicó a sus entrenadores y compañeros por el trabajo conjunto para conseguir los objetivos.

Foto ESPECIAL

En la categoría femenil, la española Alexia Putellas fue la ganadora del premio The Best. La delantera de la selección española y el Barcelona también ganó el Balón de Oro a finales del año pasado.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]