Alexia Putellas is back to her best - and guiding Barcelona to Women's Champions League glory will surely secure a third Ballon d'Or

Putellas was brilliant last year. Racking up 27 goals and 21 assists, she helped Barca win a domestic treble and reach the Champions League final, while also playing a key role in Spain's run to the 2025 European Championship final. In a very open race for the Ballon d'Or, in which only 118 votes separated the top four, a number smaller than that which split the top two in the two previous years, few would've begrudged a win for Putellas.

It was a particularly special season given what came before it. The 32-year-old suffered an ACL injury on the eve of Euro 2022 which would rule her out for that tournament, most of the following season and leave her still in a limited role at the 2023 Women's World Cup, at which Spain triumphed. With some niggles also lingering into the 2023-24 campaign, last year was Putellas' first in full since she won the Ballon d'Or back-to-back, in 2021 and 2022, and she looked to perhaps even be playing the best football of her career throughout it.

It's a level Putellas has carried into the 2025-26 season, in which there has been even greater emphasis on her - and many of her team-mates. That's because of the squad composition, which was hindered by financial restraints surrounding Barca last summer.

As the men's team sweated on the registration of new players yet again, the women made just one first-team signing, bringing back Spain international Laia Alexiandri on a free transfer Manchester City.

That came in contrast to them letting several players go, including senior stars such as Ingrid Engen, Ellie Roebuck, Fridolina Rolfo, Bruna Vilamala and Jana Fernandez, plus the permanent departures of youth products like Onyeka Gamero, Martina Fernandez, Alba Cano and Lucia Corrales, all of whom the club received fees for from top-flight clubs in England and the United States.

It left Barca with a first-team squad of just 21 names, to compete on four fronts. That 21 included Serrajordi and Camacha, who would be stepping up into the senior side on a full-time basis for the first time. The impetus was going to have to be on the likes of Putellas if this was to be a special season for the Catalans.

Good luck with injuries would have been helpful, then, but Barca have not had that either.

Aitana Bonmati, fresh off the back of her third Ballon d'Or, missed five months due to a broken leg; Patri Guijarro, arguably the best holding midfielder in the world, was sidelined for three months with a stress fracture in her foot; Aleixandri, Barca's one summer signing, suffered a season-ending ACL rupture; Cata Coll, the Catalans' No.1 goalkeeper, missed six weeks with a knee issue; and Mapi Leon, their world-class centre-back, was out of action for two months because of knee surgery.

That's on top of shorter absences, with Ona Batlle and Ewa Pajor, for example, both missing a month of action earlier in the campaign. Every team has to deal with injuries, of course, but they come faster and hit harder when the squad is smaller, as Barca's has been.

That is when other players have to step up, and Putellas has done so brilliantly. So used to playing alongside Guijarro and Bonmati in midfield, especially in the bigger games when rotation is less likely, the 32-year-old has showcased all the qualities that have made her the captain.

That's evident in her numbers, which are excellent. The two-time Ballon d'Or winner has 21 goals and 12 assists in all competitions for Barca this term, to help the club of her heart win three trophies already. Her two-goal display in the Champions League semi-final second leg win over Bayern Munich was a particular stand-out, with her three goals and three assists in the three consecutive games against Real Madrid in March another highlight.

No one has been directly involved in more goals in the Champions League this season than Putellas, whose return of 14 goals and assists from 10 games is three clear of any other player.

But it's not just about Putellas' football. Her leadership has also been an incredibly important factor in Barca's season to date, especially because of the injuries the Catalans have dealt with, the younger players that have been integrated into the senior side for the first time and those less experienced names that have needed to step up amid it all.

"She's a player who always tries to help other girls, to get the best out of them," Esmee Brugts, Barca's 23-year-old left-back, said of Putellas last month. "What people see in games is that she can really be a leader, but also in training, she is always demanding at least 100 per cent from everyone, and from herself in the first place. She's really an example.

"In my case, I speak a lot with her, knowing we also play on the same side, more or less, and she gives me those little tips that really help me for the games. When I talk about the experienced players taking those leading roles, she's, of course, the main example for this. It calms me down a lot to play next to her and she gives me the confidence to play a good game myself."

That leadership is intangible but so important, and should not be overlooked when discussing what an impactful year Putellas has had.

So, will it end in Champions League glory? Putellas was part of the Barca side which lost to Arsenal in last year's final and that will no doubt fuel the team's desire to win on Saturday against Lyon.

Adding to that for Putellas could be her uncertain future. The 32-year-old is out of contract this summer, and though there is the option for an extra year in that deal, speculation is swirling around the Spain star as the transfer window nears. London City Lionesses, the cash-rich Women's Super League side, have been most heavily linked with Putellas, who has regularly brushed off the rumours by emphasising her focus on the games that remain and the love she has for Barca.

If it is to be the end, going out with a Champions League win would be some finale, and if the Catalans are to get the better of Lyon, one would expect Putellas to play a central role. When the two met in the 2024 final, her stoppage-time strike put the gloss on victory, while an effort in the 2022 edition proved to be merely a consolation in defeat. She's due her starring moment in this incredible match-up - one which could deliver Ballon d'Or glory on top of it all.