Aitana Bonmatí continues to reign over football. She won her third FIFA The Best as best player just months after once again writing her name into history with her third consecutive Ballon d’Or, a feat previously only achieved by Leo Messi and Michel Platini. The Barcelona midfielder wins the title in a rare moment after undergoing surgery for a fractured left fibula that will sideline her for five months, and after a year in which she played virtually everything. Although they have won the F League, Queen’s Cup and Super Cup, this is not their most triumphant season title-wise, taking precedent from their recent history: they lost the Champions League final to Barca and the European Cup final to Spain. On the last paths. But Bonmatí proved decisive once again when the football and the details became more urgent. She was the one who played a major role in bringing her teams to the home stretch in both competitions and won the MVP of both continental tournaments.
The Best – the male prize was awarded to Ousmane Dembélé – arrives loaded with symbolism and contradictions, at an atypical moment in his career. Aitana, the footballer who never stopped match after match, is immersed in convalescence after the longest injury of her career. Bonmatí, who was unable to attend the gala to receive the award due to her injury, was also a member of FIFA 11, like six other Spanish footballers who were teammates: Irene Paredes, Mariona Caldentey, Ona Batlle, Patri Guijarro, Alexia Putellas and Jenni Hermoso.
As he did in that Nations League final, for the first time in years, Aitana will observe football from the outside for a while. “Elite football pushes the limit in all aspects and there are factors that currently prevent me from being able to enjoy the job and everyday life,” explained the midfielder after her operation. Her Instagram He depicts a routine away from the grass, enjoying time spent with his family, his friends from Ribes, reading and walking with his new “companions”, the crutches. Being without football for so long is foreign to her: Aitana has gone through seasons with virtually no rest and no injuries, the result of careful physical work, with attention to nutrition and mental health, but also to her demands and non-conformism that have brought her to the top of world football.
This contrast was highlighted by FIFPRO, the global organization representing professional footballers, in a recent report on the overload of matches on the women’s football calendar. According to the report, the top 15 players in the sample played more than 50 games last year for the first time since the 2020/21 season. His name appeared as the most representative case: 60 matches played last season between club and national team, 4,851 minutes, 23 trips and more than 43,000 kilometers traveled. Additionally, 57% of these matches were played with less than five days of recovery. He closed the season with 21 goals and 15 assists in all competitions and friendlies.
And with a European Cup lost in the final. At the end of June, the Royal Spanish Football Federation announced that the midfielder was suffering from viral meningitis and had been admitted to a hospital in Madrid. He feared missing the tournament, but his recovery was rapid. He returned to his best form for the quarter-finals and was once again decisive in the final stretch, which earned him the title of MVP of the championship. Spain, however, lost the title to England on penalties. She took responsibility herself for being one of the three missed pitchers. “I’m shocked. I apologize for my mistake,” he said, his voice breaking. A scene that evokes the Champions League final, during which she was also chosen as the best player of the tournament despite the defeat against Mariona Caldentey’s Arsenal in the final. Then, Aitana wandered in tears on the grass after the match, and came out to show her face between self-criticism and pain in front of the press.
This start of his journey, between the Euro Cup and the pre-season, he only had 20 days of rest. For several weeks, he had suffered from tendinopathy in his left ischium which did not allow him to play at one hundred percent. And on November 30, although for another reason, his body said during training in Las Rozas before the Nations League final that Spain would eventually win against Germany. Poor support, pain and definitive diagnosis: transsyndesmal fracture of the left fibula at the ankle. Operation and five months of leave.
“I felt that it was the moment to brake and, in fact, I thought about it, but I didn’t do it and life suddenly stopped me,” explained the Barça player. Until that moment, Aitana’s journey followed the usual logic: 24 matches between Barça and the national team, seven goals and four assists, without showing his best version. At the beginning of December, he already took his first walk on crutches, and now the horizon is measured in recovery time. A return which coincides with the home stretch of the League, the Champions League and the Queen’s Cup. The Best and the Ballon d’Or will rest at home with the others as a reminder of what has been accomplished. But also as a promise and a sign of what is to come.
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