Alexia Putellas makes long-awaited return as Barcelona seal Liga F title
Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas made her long-awaited return from an ACL injury during the club’s 3-0 win over Huelva on Sunday, which also secured a fourth consecutive Liga F title.
Putellas had been out of action since suffering the devastating injury in a Spain training session on the eve of Euro 2022 last summer. But she had been making progress in her recovery for months.
The 29-year-old travelled with the Barcelona squad to London for the first leg of the Champions League semi-final against Chelsea last month and was then an unused substitute for the return game at Camp Nou, not risked in the tense closing stages.
But Sunday’s game against Huelva provided an opportunity for Putellas to get her first competitive minutes since the end of May 2022 – a fraction over 11 months ago.
Barcelona were already 2-0 up in the contest after goals from Laia Codina and Jana Fernandez either side of half-time. With Putellas on the pitch for the final 17 minutes plus stoppage time, Asisat Oshoala then added a third Barça goal late on to make it 3-0.
With Real Madrid 10 points behind and only able to achieve nine more, the result was enough to mathematically guarantee Barcelona another Spanish title. As well as their fourth in a row, it is their eighth in the last 12 seasons since the start of the 2011/12 campaign.
Barcelona have won all 26 Liga F games they have played so far this season, on top of all 30 they played in 2021/22. They haven’t failed to take maximum points in a domestic league game since a defeat to Atletico Madrid in June 2021 and have won 89 of the last 90.
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Will Alexia Putellas play at the 2023 Women’s World Cup?
Despite potentially being one of the best national teams in the world, Spain face going to the 2023 Women’s World Cup without many of their best players.
A group of 15 sent an email to the Spanish football federation (RFEF) last September that made clear their refusal to be selected for international duty over concerns of the management and methods used by head coach Jorge Vilda, and the impact on their mental health and wellbeing.
That group included the likes of Barcelona stars Aitana Bonmati, Patri Guijarro and Mariona Caldentey, as well Manchester United pair Ona Batlle and Lucia Garcia, plus Manchester City’s Laia Aleixandri, Leila Ouahabi and others. No Real Madrid players were involved.
Putellas was not among the 15 due to being injured and, at that time, being ruled out of action for the foreseeable future anyway. She did support the protest, however, as did fellow national team veterans Jenni Hermoso and Irene Paredes.
None of the 15 have played for Spain since, but Hermoso and Paredes have. Spain will be keen to have Putellas spearhead their charge for international silverware this summer. Whether she is prepared to be part of it if the environment hasn’t improved is another matter. But this is her only chance to play at a World Cup at her peak, which has already yielded multiple Ballon d’Or wins.
There will need to be talks between the various parties and time is running out with the tournament beginning in less than three months’ time and squads named much sooner than that.