Alexia Putellas is one of the best female players in the world, as evidenced by her collection of individual awards, including two Ballon d’Or trophies in her cabinet. The Spanish international has been ever-present for Barcelona and Spain, and earlier this year, she lifted the FIFA Women’s World Cup for the first time in her career after Spain beat England in the final.
Sadly, a knee injury has appeared to end her season when she’s beginning to get regular minutes at Barcelona again. The club announced earlier that their forward will now undergo surgery to correct the injury that has kept her out of the team since last month, so how many matches will the World Cup winner miss?
Alexia Putellas to undergo ACL surgery
Alexia Putellas will spend a few more months on the sidelines after her ACL surgery on Wednesday, Barcelona announced. The Barcelona Femeni captain has been out of action since November, when she scored a brace in a Women’s Champions League game against Benfica.
This injury has made her miss a lot of matches, including recent international games, after she had to withdraw from the national team training camp in the Spanish capital around the same time.
“Barcelona women’s football star Alexia Putellas is undergoing an arthroscopy on her left knee this Wednesday, 27th December. The club will be making an official statement once the operation has concluded,” the club said in an official statement yesterday.
This isn’t the first time the two-time Ballon d’Or winner will suffer a long-term knee injury. She missed Spain’s European Championship campaign in 2022 due to an ACL injury, which also kept her out of a few matches in Spain’s victorious campaign at this year’s World Cup.
According to The Guardian, arthroscopy is a surgical procedure that adopts a small fiber-optic camera to diagnose and treat joint problems, which will be used to work on the Spanish international today.
How many matches will the 2x Ballon d’Or winner miss?
While a full recovery timeline for Alexia Putellas’ knee injury remains uncertain, typical knee injuries require up to two months of rehabilitation. This suggests Putellas could face a minimum absence of several months.
With Barcelona sitting at the top of the Primera Division, they will hope Putellas’ injury will not affect their chances of winning the title next year. Putellas herself will miss important games for Barcelona Femeni, including the team’s first game of 2024 when they host Levante Las Planas on January 6th.
She will also miss the round of 16 game against Fundacion Albacete in the Copa de la Reina on January 14th.
Her injury has come as a big blow for Barcelona Femeni, but thankfully, they have other forwards to rely on, including Asisat Oshoala, who claimed the Women’s Africa Player of the Year for the third time running earlier this month, alongside Victor Osimhen, who claimed the men’s award before penning a new deal with Napoli last week.
Alexia Putellas is the record goalscorer for the Femeni with 182 goals.
