Women's Soccer Player of the Year Contender Bonmati

Years Old: 27 Role: Midfielder Clubs: Barcelona and Spain

It has been quite the season for Aitana Bonmati. She achieved becoming the first player to claim three women's Ballons d'Or, achieved a domestic treble and advanced to the Euro 2025 final.

Her track record is clear, with an impressive trophy haul across her career as well. She has earned 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 extraordinary 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 notable campaign.

The inventive playmaker netted the goal that defeated Germany in the Euros semi-final as Spain made history by advancing to the final for the first time.

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

Tino Herrero: "I believe that Aitana does not have a ceiling at the moment. She is a very driven girl, and the truth is that she is very youthful 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 feel that she could become like Lionel Messi with eight Ballons d'Or. She will be able to attain his level."

Bonmati regarding what it means to play for Barcelona: "It's both a point of honor and a duty. 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."

A top club men's manager: "Aitana Bonmati is a football player who has me totally in love with her for the way she plays. I would say she is like the women's Iniesta."

The owner of a bar devoted to Bonmati in her home town: "Mostly for being as humble as she is. Her style of play. And she knows how to work as a unit and as a team. Often some of these top-tier 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, acknowledging her team as the driving force to herself. And, it is because of her personality, her game and her strength and her quick reaction mindset."

While Bonmati generated the most chances in Liga F last season, 10 players provided more assists than her six, including her Barcelona team-mates 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 consistently providing the pass to the player who assisted the goal, quietly initiating so many of Barcelona's successful attacks last season.

There isn't much that hasn't been discussed about Bonmati. She explains her biggest strengths as comprehending the game and finding spaces with and without the ball, in order to identify solutions in every match.

Tactically, this personal evaluation holds up perfectly. It is remarkable how much distance Bonmati covers when compared to others. This effort level combined with her field intelligence, game IQ and technical quality ensure she constantly solves problems in games.

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

For club and country, Bonmati intelligently ran into unconventional positions, sometimes even abandoning 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 frequently created 3v2 or 2v1 situations.

With a player surplus, her passing and exceptional small space dribbling becomes almost impossible to stop.

Her guidance separates her from her peers too.

Her relentless running, particularly in her counter-pressing, secondarily raises the level of intensity in her teams and has the strategic advantage of pushing teams back, stopping them from getting settled attacking possession.

Bonmati intelligently identifies the space she can utilize and with her running power arrives to create a 2v1 situation for Spain in the wide areas.