Only Leo Messi will be unreachable for Alexia Putellas
The captain will reach 500 games at the Camp Nou and could become the club's second top scorer, only behind the Argentine footballer
Barcelona“Alexia is Barça”. That’s how Irene Paredes and Patri Guijarro –two of the captains– summarize Alexia Putellas. Almost 5,000 days after first wearing the Barça jersey, the Mollet-born player will make history again. If she gets playing time this Thursday (6:45 PM) at the Camp Nou against Real Madrid, she will reach 500 games as a blaugrana. This is yet another testament to what a key player represents in the growth of the Catalan club. When Alexia debuted with Barça on August 24, 2012 –after playing for Espanyol and Levante to grow and establish herself in the First Division–, Barça had not yet played any Champions League matches, had just won their first league title –now they are on their way to their eleventh–, and only had two Cups in their trophy cabinet –on May 16, they could lift their twelfth.
As if that were not enough, Alexia can make history in a double way. With Sunday's goal at the Alfredo Di Stéfano stadium – which was Barça's 100th goal against Real Madrid –, the captain has scored 229 goals with the blaugrana shirt and is just three goals away from equaling César Rodríguez (232) and becoming the second top scorer – counting men and women – for the club. Only Leo Messi will remain ahead of her, who with 672 goals seems unlikely to be outshone by any footballer. Among Alexia's 229 goals, there are many memorable ones, such as the 2-0 in the Champions League final in Bilbao to beat Olympique de Lyon for the first time, or the one she scored against Zaragoza CFF in the Copa de la Reina final in June 2013, her first viral goal. This season, the player from Mollet del Vallès has played 40 games and scored 21 goals, numbers that make her a favorite for the Ballon d'Or – it would be her third –, ahead of Claudia Pina, who is second in the ranking according to GOAL.
Alexia's best version has coincided with the key stretch of the season. After the international break, the captain has accumulated five goals and two assists in six games, giving her great confidence to face these two months in which she aims to repeat a historic poker with Barça, something she has only achieved once in her career. "She has something different, if Alexia is on the field, the team experiences it differently. When training, she is just as competitive as when playing," points out Pina, top scorer in Liga F with 17 goals. Once she reaches 500 games, she will have a new challenge on the horizon: to surpass Melanie Serrano as the player with the most matches for Barça (517). This season, at most, she will be able to play ten more games, so she would need one more season if she wants to reach this record. In the men's category, however, she still has several names ahead of her. Víctor Valdés, with 535, is the next on a list topped by Leo Messi with 778 games.
Alexia's invisible face
If there is one thing that teammates in the locker room agree on, it's everything Alexia Putellas contributes off the field. “As captain, she's there for whatever you need and helps you without you having to ask,” highlights Clara Serrajordi, who will play at the Camp Nou for the first time at 18 years old and can boast of sharing a locker room and pitch with one of her role models. “She's a leader and a role model, both on and off the field,” adds Paredes, who confesses that reaching 500 games with Barça is “amazing.”
A leadership that Alexia knows how to convey to her teammates. “She's an emblem, you believe everything she says,” explains Cata Coll. “She always does things to keep the team well, she does the role of captain very well, which isn't easy,” remarks Graham Hansen. Alexia is becoming a player destined to make history who wants to continue breaking barriers. She was the first goalscorer in the history of the Clásicos (then against CD Tacón, former Real Madrid) and the first player to score a goal at the Camp Nou (5-0 against Espanyol in a match without an audience due to the pandemic). Nothing, however, is by chance. Her competitive hunger has led her to break down all doors. The queen wants to keep breaking down walls.