Barcelona’s women are again at the center of the Ballon d’Or conversation, and Alexia Putellas is once more the name at the front of the race. The two-time winner is the main favorite to take the women’s award again, with the gala set for Monday at the London Palladium Theatre.
Putellas, 31, has already won the Ballon d’Or in 2021 and 2022, and the case for a third trophy rests on the same résumé that carried her there before: major honors with Barcelona and the Spanish national team, plus MVP recognition in both the Champions League and the Nations League. That is why the search around her has sharpened now. When one player has already defined the award twice, and the ceremony is days away, the question is not whether she belongs in the discussion. It is whether anyone can still keep up with her.
Barcelona’s presence goes far beyond one player. The 30-candidate list also includes Patri Guijarro, Claudia Pina, Cata Coll, Mariona Caldentey and Mapi León, while Ewa Pajor, Caroline Graham and Esmee Brugts are in the wider mix as well. Aitana Bonmatí is among the Barcelona names being followed in the broader award conversation, yet Putellas remains the only player from the club described as the main favorite for the women’s Ballon d’Or itself.
That split matters because it shows how concentrated Barcelona’s influence is across the women’s awards while still leaving room for hierarchy inside the club. Cata Coll is the main candidate for the Yashin Trophy, which goes to the best goalkeeper of the year, and her rivals include Ann-Katrin Kerber, Hannah Hampton, Lorena and Ayaka Yamashita. Vicky López and Clara Serrajordi are in the Kopa Trophy race for best young player, alongside Felicia Schröder, Lily Yohannes and Veerle Buurman. Barcelona is also competing for best women’s club of the year against Bayern de Múnich, Manchester City, OL Lyonnes and Club América, while Pere Romeu is in the running for the Johan Cruyff Trophy for best coach of the year.
The voting system underlines why the result will be judged so closely. The women’s Ballon d’Or jury has 50 members, one from each of the 50 highest-ranked countries in FIFA’s ranking, so the winner is decided by a compact panel rather than a mass vote. Barcelona arrives at Monday’s gala after a historic four-trophy season, having won Liga, Copa, Supercopa de España and Champions League last season, and that run is the backdrop to the awards shortlist. Putellas may still be the favorite, but the wider story is that Barcelona has turned the ceremony into a test of how much one club can dominate a global prize list before the first envelope is opened.
