Women's Footballer of the Year contender Bonmati

It has been quite the year for Aitana Bonmati. She became the first player to win three women's Ballons d'Or, achieved a domestic treble and reached the Euro 2025 final.

Her pedigree is evident, with an extensive trophy haul across her career to boot. She has won seven league titles, three European crowns, nine Copas de la Reina and five Spanish Super Cups.

While Barcelona were beaten by Arsenal in the Champions League final, and her remarkable return from a bout of viral meningitis shortly before the start of the Euros was not enough to guide Spain to the trophy, it was an impressive campaign.

The creative playmaker netted the goal that beat Germany in the Euros semi-final as Spain made history by progressing to the final for the first time.

She was also named the Champions League's player of the season by Uefa, registering nine goal contributions in her 11 appearances and scoring in their 4-1 semi-final second-leg win at Chelsea.

Tino Herrero, the president of Bonmati's first football team, Club Deportiu Ribes: "I believe that Aitana does not have a ceiling at the moment. She is a very competitive girl, and the truth is that she is very young with everything she has achieved. I think that the ceiling will be set by her if she continues to be like this, so competitive, taking care of herself.

"There are times when you see her running at 11pm at night, so that not too many people can see her. She is running around here in the village. If she keeps going like that, I think there's no limit to it. I believe that she could become like Lionel Messi with eight Ballons d'Or. She will be able to reach his level."

Bonmati on what it means to play for Barcelona, speaking to Mundo Deportivo, external: "It's both a source of pride and a responsibility. We're not only judged by our results but also by how we play. Most teams would be satisfied just winning, but we're expected - and we expect ourselves - to win and play well. That's a big responsibility."

Manchester City men's manager Pep Guardiola: "Aitana Bonmati is a football player who has me completely in love with her for the way she plays. I would say she is like the women's [Andres] Iniesta."

The owner of a bar dedicated to Bonmati in her home town of Sant Pere de Ribes, on what makes her special: "Mostly for being as humble as she is. Her style of play. And she knows how to work as a group and as a team. Often some of these elite players are more individualistic and they always want to be them, them and them. No, she shares the awards and has proven that in all the galas she went to, recognising her team as the engine to herself. And, it is because of her way of being, her game and her strength and her quick reaction mindset."

Although Bonmati created the most chances in Liga F last season, 10 players provided more assists than her six, including her Barcelona team-mates Alexia Putellas and Caroline Graham Hansen who provided a league-high 11 and 10 assists respectively.

But where Bonmati excelled more than any other player was in the moment before a goal was scored and an assist awarded by constantly providing the pass to the player who assisted the goal, silently initiating so many of Barcelona's successful attacks last season.

There isn't much that hasn't been said about Bonmati. She describes her biggest strengths as understanding the game and finding spaces with and without the ball, in order to find solutions in every match.

Tactically, this self-assessment holds up perfectly. It is remarkable how much distance Bonmati covers when compared to others. This work-rate combined with her spatial awareness, game IQ and technical quality ensure she continually solves problems in games.

In possession, she moves to find space in a way that benefits the team, similar to Mariona Caldentey but from a higher starting position that often affords players less time and space.

For club and country, Bonmati smartly ran into unorthodox positions, sometimes even leaving her position to move to the opposite side to create an overload. This goes against what a positional side would normally do but her movement regularly created 3v2 or 2v1 situations.

With a numerical advantage, her passing and other-worldly small space dribbling becomes almost impossible to stop.

Her leadership separates her from her contemporaries too.

Her relentless running, particularly in her counter-pressing, indirectly raises the level of intensity in her teams and has the tactical benefit of pushing teams back, preventing them from getting settled attacking possession.