Aitana Bonmati last night won her second consecutive Ballon d'Or, becoming the second woman to do so. She follows the footsteps of her Barcelona teammate, Alexia Putellas, as Barcelona locked out the top three spots at the most coveted football awards ceremony in the world.
Bonmati finished last season for Barcelona with eight goals and eleven assists in the Primera Liga through 24 matches as Barcelona went unbeaten through the season. Bonmati also had six goals in eleven appearances for Barcelona's second consecutive Champions League title.
Barcelona also created history, being the only team in Spanish women's football history to have completed a continental quadruple.
In addition to this, Bonmati was a driving force in Spain's Nations League win in February, capping off her four goal performance throughout the tournament with one in their 2-0 win in the final over France.
Despite this however, there were other worthy contenders of the award this year. One being a teammate of Bonmati in Caroline Graham Hansen.
The Norwegian had a monstrous year for Barcelona, playing in a more prominent role in attack. She finished the season with 21 goals and 19 asissts in the 25 league games that she played in. In addition to this, she also contributed 5 goals to the Champions League campaign through 10 matches.
She finished as a runner-up for the award which may have been due to Bonmati's international success as Spain won the Nations League crown.
Bonmati is the undisputed best player in the world due to the fact that she is the heartbeat of the two best teams in the world both domestically and internationally.
For the first half of the year, Spain were ranked number one by FIFA, which coincides with their Nations League title win. As of right now, they stand at number three.
With Barcelona being the reigning champions of not only Spain but also of Europe, it was inevitable that one of their stars would win the award, and given Bonmati's dominance of the midfield for both club and country, she is absolutely the right choice to win the 2024 Women's Ballon d'Or.
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