WOMEN'S FOOTBALL
Will Alexia return for the UWCL game against Chelsea on 27 April?
The FC Barcelona midfielder has been out for almost a year with an ACL injury, but she may have hinted at a return.
Alexia Putellas is slowly creeping back into the fold at FC Barcelona Femení. The midfielder has returned to training with her teammates after breaking her ACL on 5 July 2022, the eve of Spain’s Euro 2022 campaign, where they fell to eventual winners England.
Her almost year-long absence has been a huge hole in the Barça midfield for over 9 months: the team have stormed to the top of Liga F and will face Chelsea in the Semi-finals of the UEFA Women’s Champions League over the coming days. And it seems that Alexia might be closer to a return than was suspected.
Alexia’s cryptic message
The double-Ballon d’Or winner posted on her social media channels on Sunday 16 April a photo that, on first glance, is quite standard for a footballer. She uploaded a photo of her famous number 11 shirt with the caption of, quite simply, a number 11 and a couple of emojis.
However, the post was made exactly 11 days before Barça’s second leg UWCL match against Chelsea at Camp Nou, a date that was clearly put in Alexia’s recovery calendar back at the beginning of March. This has caused a huge reaction online, with almost 20,000 interactions with the cryptic message, with many believing that Alexia is hinting her return will coincide with the game against Chelsea.
The player has been doing ‘full’ training sessions
FC Barcelona manager, Jonatan Giráldez said last weekend that Alexia is “practically doing full training sessions” and when the time comes to face Chelsea at Camp Nou, Alexia will have been doing so for a month. Keep your eyes peeled, the best player in the world is coming back.