Barcelona undoubtedly have their greatest era of women’s footballers on their hands currently, as the all-conquering side look to win it all again this year. Led by Aitana Bonmati, the Blaugrana appear not to tire of breaking records.
Bonmati has cleaned up both on a collective and individual level in the last 12 months, winning the World Cup and Champions League, as well as being named FIFA Player of the Year and Ballon d’Or. Perhaps not equally, but certainly impressively, a study by Apple Tree and Rybold, as quoted by Relevo, saw Bonmati outdo Lionel Messi (her opposite Ballon d’Or winner in the men’s game) after the event. 51% of media reports following the awards night were about Bonmati, compared to 49% for Messi.
In addition, the women’s game made ground in terms of coverage more generally. The same pairing found that news items about the women’s game grew from 14% to 29% compared to the men’s game in the year of 2023, showing the ground still being made up.
Bonmati has been a force for change both on and off the field, although she was recently pessimistic about the progress of the Spanish game for women. While she might not be seeing the necessary changes, Bonmati is certainly driving the game forward in terms of capturing attention.
