Ballon d'Or 2022: Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas retains Feminin crown, Beth Mead second in Paris

ByEurosport

Updated 17/10/2022 at 19:27 GMT

Alexia Putellas has been presented her second Ballon d'Or at a lavish ceremony at Theatre du Chatelet in Paris, France. Putellas beat the likes of Chelsea forward Sam Kerr, Arsenal and England striker Beth Mead and Lyon's Ada Hegerberg to win the most prestigious individual award in women's football for the second year in a row after a sensational 2021-22 campaign.

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Barcelona midfielder Alexia Putellas has won the Ballon d'Or Feminin for the second year in a row.

Arsenal strike Beth Mead finished in second while Chelsea's Sam Kerr came in third. Mead's Lionesses team-mates Millie Bright and Lucy Bronze finished 15th and 10th respectively.

This year's Ballon d'Or Feminin was awarded for performance in the 2021-22 season, rather than the calendar year.

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The Spaniard missed Euro 2022 due to an agonising knee injury on the eve of the tournament, which could rule her out of next year’s World Cup too, but voting was judged on the entire season.

"I'm very happy to be back here," Putellas said after picking up the prize off former Ukraine striker Andriy Shevchenko.

"Happy and pleased. The truth is a year ago I was able to win this prize. It pushed me to want to do even better. Without my team-mates this wouldn't have been possible.

"Some of my team-mates are here present tonight. I want to thank the technical staff, the coaches who help me each and every day.

"I injured my knee at a time I didn't think it could be possible. The next time [at the awards] I hope to be back on the pitch."

Asked how her recovery is going, she said: "It's going well but it's not a battle that is won just yet."

Last season, Putellas was in scintillating form. She scored 18 goals and backed that up with a league-high 18 assists as she helped Barca to the La Liga title.

Putellas was also voted the Champions League’s best player, despite their 3-1 defeat to Lyon in the final in Turin, Italy.

In 2021 Putellas won the Ballon d'Or after a treble-winning campaign with Barcelona.

Aside from Putellas, Only Hegerberg - who finished seventh this year - and Megan Rapinoe have previously won the Ballon d’Or Feminin following its inception in 2018.

The Ballon d'Or Femenin rankings

20. Kadidiatou Diani (Paris Saint-Germain)
19. Fridolina Rolfo (Barcelona)
18. Trinity Rodman (Washington Spirit)
17. Marie-Antoinette Katoto (PSG)
16. Asisat Oshoala (Barcelona)
15. Millie Bright (Chelsea)
14. Selma Bacha (Lyon)
13. Alex Morgan (San Diego Wave)
12. Christiane Endler (Lyon)
11. Vivianne Miedema (Arsenal)
10. Lucy Bronze (Barcelona)
9. Catarina Macario (Lyon)
8. Wendie Renard (Lyon)
7. Ada Hegerberg (Lyon)
6. Alexandra Popp (Wolfsburg)
5. Aitana Bonmati (Barcelona)
4. Lena Oberdorf (Wolfsburg)
3. Sam Kerr (Chelsea)
2. Beth Mead (Arsenal)
1. Alexia Putellas (Barcelona)

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