Sports
Aitana Bonmati exclusive: Barcelona’s Ballon d’Or winner tells it like it is
When Aitana Bonmati won the Ballon d’Or last year, it brought a global spotlight to a player whose genius was crying out to be recognised.
Even now, it would be hard to argue that there is a better female footballer on the planet.
Over the past 16 months, Bonmati has won the Champions League twice and the Spanish top-flight, Liga F, twice with Barcelona. With Spain, she lifted the Women’s World Cup in August last year before adding the inaugural Women’s Nations League in February. Her goals and golden touch make her a leading contender to win another Ballon d’Or this year. Those skills have also attracted interest from the game’s biggest clubs.
While rumours of interest from Chelsea and Lyon were growing, the midfielder was working with Barcelona to renew her contract — one that makes her the highest-paid player in women’s football history.
This week in Barcelona, she spoke in depth with The Athletic, just a few days after signing a deal until the summer of 2028.
We met at Barca’s sports complex on the outskirts of the city, in a small room in the media centre. She arrived at lunchtime, hastily explaining she hadn’t yet had a chance to eat after a morning of training sessions and meetings.
Now 26, this has been Bonmati’s routine for a few years now: non-stop. But every day she drives back to her home in Sant Pere de Ribes, a small quiet town around 25 minutes down the coast. It is where she has lived all her life.
With a framed picture of the Camp Nou behind us — a ground she will grace again once reconstruction is complete — we talked about her renewal and much more.
We talked about her concerns that Spain’s domestic women’s league is slipping dangerously behind the WSL. We talked about the gruelling schedule for football’s elite players, and her belief that more should be done to protect them. We talked about the rival offers that came in as she weighed up her future — and her powerful connection with Barca and the place she grew up.
The Athletic: When and why did you decide to renew with Barca?
Bonmati: It was a process that started earlier than usual. In women’s football, you normally wait until the end of your contract and then you start negotiating. It was almost a year ago that my agent and I started discussions with the club. That says a lot about its importance.
In every conversation, there are difficult moments — or moments when you don’t agree — but both sides have been very respectful and everything has been handled internally, which I wanted. I didn’t want anybody else to know, and I’m thankful for that. Renewing now, at the beginning of the season, puts my mind at ease. I knew what I wanted and the club has made a big bet — for which I am very grateful.
Bonmati’s new Barca contract ties her down until the summer of 2028 (Nil Colomer)
The Athletic: There were rival offers. Were you tempted by other projects?
Bonmati: I wasn’t tempted to accept but I did listen. When certain offers are put in front of you, you have to listen and think about what is best for you. The priority has always been Barca, they have always come first. I always say that I like to listen and see what’s out there, but there won’t be anywhere like here.
I don’t know if there is another club in the world that moves as many people as we do. What we experienced at San Mames (when tens of thousands of Barca fans filled the stands for last season’s Champions League final victory over Lyon), I don’t know if any other club could experience that. We have achieved great sporting milestones and that gets people hooked. They are beautiful moments.
The Athletic: Which clubs were interested in you?
Bonmati: I prefer to keep that to myself. I don’t need to uncover offers from other clubs. I know I have received interest from several clubs and I am grateful. With Barca, we reached an agreement that makes us feel calm and proud. This is what has made me stay here, apart from the feeling I have for Barca.
Bonmati with her Ballon d’Or award in October last year (Franck Fife/AFP via Getty Images)
The Athletic: Your agent said Chelsea were willing to pay your €3million (£2.5m; $3.4m) buy-out clause. There was talk of interest from Lyon. Barca have made a significant financial effort to keep you. How do you keep your feet on the ground when you see that you can choose where to go?
Bonmati: I value everything that is happening to me. I am privileged. I have the power to decide where I want to be. This has been the result of a lot of hard work. I have worked very hard and I have suffered a lot too.
I always have my feet on the ground. I am a person who takes these conversations very internally with my people and my agent, Cristian (Martin). I always let myself be helped by people who know me well but the decision will always be mine. I have the personality to make it, but I try to listen to the people who love me.
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The Athletic: Was your connection to Sant Pere de Ribes (where Bonmati grew up) and Catalonia important in your decision as well?
Bonmati: I’m a small-town person and I’ve been at Barca for 13 years. It might seem like my comfort zone. All this is important but the most important thing is the football level of the team I want to play for. I am an ambitious person and I want to keep winning.
Barca are a winning team that competes for everything every year. We have won three Champions League titles out of five finals played. This is amazing. I don’t know if right now another club could give me what Barca gives me on a sporting level.
Bonmati celebrates the opening goal in last season’s Champions League final at San Mames (Alex Caparros – UEFA via Getty Images)
I feel privileged to be at home, to have my people close to me and to be lucky enough to grow up in a great club that has made me the player I am today.
The Athletic: When you started playing organised football at the age of seven, could you have imagined achieving what you have already?
Bonmati: Honestly, no. I’ve been finding it along the way. I’ve been making my own way. I didn’t imagine myself being a professional player until I was 17. I was at Barca B and I saw that the club was starting to invest in building a professional first team. I’ve fought hard and my head has taken me to the extremes of hard work and never giving up. But I have not done this alone, I am grateful to the people who have made me better.
The Athletic: You talk about extreme hard work. Have you learned to enjoy the process?
Bonmati: I’ve made quite a big change. Before, I suffered a lot and I wanted to have everything under control. Now I’m not like that, although I’m never going to change completely. I am the way I am. Last year, I learned to enjoy every moment more. It gives me peace of mind, knowing that I am improving as a player, as a person. In the end, you grow up too (laughs) and learn to enjoy moments that are sometimes fleeting.
Bonmati made her Barca debut in 2016 (Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
The Athletic: As an ambitious person at a club like Barca, how does it feel to be in a league that is below its level?
Bonmati: If I started to look at Liga F, without taking Barca into account, I wouldn’t have stayed here. That’s how clear I say it. It’s sad to see how other leagues are overtaking us at an incredible speed when we have the potential to be a top league — because of the successes of Barca successes and the national team.
If with these strengths we don’t have a sufficiently important league, it’s something to look at. We are stagnating, it’s not getting any better. We don’t even have a (main) sponsor in the league. What interest is being put into this league? Who is running this league? Maybe we should be more humble, take the example of the English league (WSL) and see how they do things. And in the national team the same. If the changes don’t come, it’s a sign that the people who run this league are not interested in moving forward.
The Athletic: What did you hope would have changed?
Bonmati: If I start I’ll never finish — and I’m sure I’ll leave a lot out. We have to fight to make it a more competitive league and that means fewer teams. We have to look at the exemplary leagues in Europe and see how many matches they play.
We are the league that plays the most games. When Spain-based players go to their national team, either with Spain or others, we are the most disadvantaged in the world.
Spain beat England 1-0 to win the World Cup in August 2023 (Elsa – FIFA via Getty Images)
Who cares about our performance so that we can shine in every game? In the Olympic Games, we arrived exhausted because we finished the league on June 15 (Spain then also played two fixtures before the Olympic tournament started on July 25). The United States went to the Olympics halfway through the NWSL competition. That makes us small as players.
The Athletic: There have been other hard times — like what happened after the World Cup in 2023 (Luis Rubiales kissed Spain forward Jenni Hermoso on the lips at the medal ceremony after they beat England in the final, igniting a dramatic reckoning with appalling attitudes towards the women’s game) and Spain players’ struggles for better conditions. When do you think was the hardest moment in the whole process?
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Bonmati: There is never a quiet moment here. You can’t just play football and that’s it. There are always things, you see that things are not done well. I can’t single out the hardest moment because there have been many. There is a lot of wear and tear and there is even more wear and tear when you see that there is still a lot to do.
The Athletic: Let’s talk about football. In the last two years, you’ve been seen playing closer to the box. Do you feel more comfortable there?
Bonmati: Absolutely. I’m more dangerous near the box than far away. The fact that I can be closer to end situations makes me a better player; I can help my team-mates, and they can help me to be better. Playing there makes me a better player.
The Athletic: You have been nominated again for the Ballon d’Or. What does it mean to you? How do you remember last year’s ceremony?
Bonmati: it was a unique day that I could share with people close to me. When I was little I remember seeing Lionel Messi lifting the Ballon d’Or almost every year and suddenly you see yourself there, with the creme de la creme of football. I’m proud to be nominated again. It says a lot about the great work that has been done this year.
The Athletic: How would you describe the art of ‘llegada’ (arriving at the right time in the penalty area)?
Bonmati: You either have it or you don’t. It’s an aspect of the game that I’ve played since I was a kid. I’ve grown up with it.
I consider myself a very skilful player who moves well in small spaces. In the last few years, I’ve been improving my finishing and (effectiveness in) the last few metres by speeding up the play, whether it’s by driving the ball or breaking into space. I try to be a complete player. And the team-mates I have here make me a better player. We all understand the same style of play and that helps a lot. We help each other.
The Athletic: What facets of the game do you enjoy the most?
Bonmati: I really enjoy receiving between the lines. I can accelerate the play by driving with the ball, that’s something that sets me apart. There I can find the last pass or the pass before the assist, which makes it easier for another player to give the assist. I like to help find these crucial spaces.
The Athletic: And at home? How do you unwind when the door is closed and the curtains drawn?
Bonmati: (Laughs) I just don’t have a lot of time. In the last few years, something I’ve missed is having a bit of a holiday. It’s something important to totally disconnect and recharge your batteries, but it’s something that players from teams that play in everything don’t have.
I would like to criticise the calendar and all the organisations that I think should look after the players more. I try to make the most of the time I have. I have times when I read more, and other times when I read less. I try to do things that are good for me, like meeting up with my lifelong friends in my town square. These are things that I like, that make me happy, that distract me and remind me of the Aitana I’ve always been.
(Top photo: Getty Images. Visual design: Eamonn Dalton)
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Last August, when the NASCAR Cup Series went to the road course at Watkins Glen, Shane van Gisbergen captured the checkered flag.
Now SVG finds himself at the top of the oddsboard to win again when the series goes Bowling at The Glen on Sunday, May 10 (3 p.m. ET, FS1).
Let’s take a look at where the rest of the field sits as of May 10 at DraftKings Sportsbook.
This page may contain affiliate links to legal sports betting partners. If you sign up or place a wager, FOX Sports may be compensated. Read more about Sports Betting on FOX Sports.
NASCAR Cup Series Go Bowling at the Glen 2026
Shane van Gisbergen: -135 (bet $10 to win $17.41 total)
Connor Zilisch: +360 (bet $10 to win $46 total)
Christopher Bell: +900 (bet $10 to win $100 total)
Tyler Reddick: +1200 (bet $10 to win $130 total)
Ty Gibbs: +1400 (bet $10 to win $150 total)
Chris Buescher: +1800 (bet $10 to win $190 total)
Michael McDowell: +2000 (bet $10 to win $210 total)
Austin Cindric: +2200 (bet $10 to win $230 total)
Ross Chastain: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Chase Elliott: +2500 (bet $10 to win $260 total)
Carson Hocevar: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Ryan Blaney: +3000 (bet $10 to win $310 total)
Chase Briscoe: +3500 (bet $10 to win $360 total)
William Byron: +4000 (bet $10 to win $410 total)
Kyle Larson: +4500 (bet $10 to win $460 total)
AJ Allmendinger: +5000 (bet $10 to win $510 total)
Joey Logano: +5500 (bet $10 to win $560 total)
Kyle Busch: +7500 (bet $10 to win $760 total)
Denny Hamlin: +8000 (bet $10 to win $810 total)
Alex Bowman: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Daniel Suarez: +9000 (bet $10 to win $910 total)
Brad Keselowski: +10000 (bet $10 to win $1,010 total)
Bubba Wallace: +13000 (bet $10 to win $1,310 total)
Ryan Preece: +30000 (bet $10 to win $3,010 total)
Ricky Stenhouse Jr.: +35000 (bet $10 to win $3,510 total)
Riley Herbst: +40000 (bet $10 to win $4,010 total)
Austin Dillon: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Zane Smith: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
John Hunter Nemechek: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Erik Jones: +60000 (bet $10 to win $6,010 total)
Todd Gilliland: +70000 (bet $10 to win $7,010 total)
Josh Berry: +70000 (bet $10 to win $7,010 total)
Noah Gragson: +80000 (bet $10 to win $8,010 total)
Cole Custer: +80000 (bet $10 to win $8,010 total)
Ty Dillon: +90000 (bet $10 to win $9,010 total)
Katherine Legge: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Josh Bilicki: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
Cody Ware: +100000 (bet $10 to win $10,010 total)
The Favorite: Last year at Watkins Glen, Shane van Gisbergen finished eighth in Stage 1, 22nd in Stage 2 and led 38 laps on the day before getting into Victory Lane. And as it stands currently, SVG could use a win; the driver of the No. 97 car hasn’t won yet in 2026. He’s also 19th in the standings. However, he has two top 10s this year and one top-five finish. Bettors also might want to note that van Gisbergen won five of the six NASCAR road courses in 2025 and finished second at COTA earlier this year.
One to Watch: Another driver fans might want to keep their eyes on is Ryan Blaney. At The Glen in 2025, Blaney won the pole, finished seventh in Stage 1, won Stage 2 and finished the race sixth overall after leading 35 laps. On No. 12’s resume so far this year are seven top 10s, three top-five finishes and one win. He’s currently fourth in the standings.
For Sarah Gorden, Mother’s Day is special because it’s not just a celebration of motherhood. For her, it’s also a celebration of perseverance, grit and survival.
Especially survival.
Gorden became pregnant during her junior year of college and for most of the next 12 years, she tried to balance her life as a professional soccer player with her responsibilities as a single mother. It wasn’t easy.
“I honestly look back and I have no idea how we got through that,” said Gorden, who made $8,000 as an NWSL rookie with the Chicago Red Stars in 2016, less than the city’s minimum wage. “We’re making no money. We were definitely using government assistance and government aid. And then the help of family and friends.
“I’m impressed and proud of the part of me that got through that. But it was no way to live.”
As the memories come flooding back, so do the tears.
Angel City midfielder Ariadina Alves Borges walks off the pitch with her son, Luca, at BMO Stadium on May 2.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
“It’s so difficult to explain,” said Gorden, now 33 and the captain at Angel City, as she dabbed at the tears with a tissue. “Not having enough money, not having enough time, wondering if I’m being selfish, wondering if I’m making the right decision. Ultimately it came down to: I didn’t feel like I had another [choice].”
A decade later, the NWSL minimum wage is $50,500 and the league’s collective bargaining agreement guarantees mothers job protection, full salary and benefits for the duration of a pregnancy-related absence, stipends for child care and subsidized arrangements for women traveling with children up to age 14.
Angel City, founded by three mothers, has gone beyond what the league has mandated by supporting mothers with perks that include a well-stocked nursery at the team’s training facility on the campus of Cal Lutheran University.
“From the beginning, we always strive to support the whole player. Physically, mentally, emotionally, psychologically,” said Julie Uhrman, one of Angel City’s founders and now a principal adviser to the team. “And then to support them if they came in as parents or became parents. That’s not just players. Staff too.”
Uhrman, who raised two children while building a successful career as a media and entertainment executive, speaks from experience.
“They can do both and they can excel at both,” she said of her players. “And we’re going to provide the support and the environment for them to do that.”
On its active roster of 25 players, Angel City has four mothers — the most in the NWSL. The work that went into the infrastructure now in place for them originated with Sarah Smith, the team’s former director of medical and performance.
Smith, who left the club in January and now advises elite athletes — primarily skiers — in Utah, said the support she got from Uhrman and others during her own pregnancy two and a half years ago inspired and informed her work with Angel City.
“Having the leadership of the club and the female leaders in the club, and then wanting to be able to support all of the players through their different journeys, through motherhood, I was really glad to be part of that,” she said. “But it really started with the fact that I had just gone through it, and I was able to share those experiences.”
Angel City forward Sydney Leroux’s 9-year-old son, Cassius, waits for his mom to leave a team huddle at BMO Stadium on May 2.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
The first player she guided through that journey was Scottish forward Claire Emslie, who gave birth to a son in December.
“I’ll be honest. Having seen how much she wanted to do for moms in the game made me excited to become a mom,” Emslie said. “We weren’t even thinking about having a kid. But knowing what she wanted to do if there was a pregnant player made me want to have a kid because I knew that this is the best place I could possibly be.”
Emslie, 32, was cleared to suit up for Angel City’s game with San Diego on Saturday — the day before Mother’s Day — after missing the past 12 months on maternity leave. But she continued to train until just before giving birth and that, combined with the year off from the weekly pounding of professional soccer and the physiological changes her body went through during pregnancy, have made her better, she says.
“I feel better. I’m different,” she said. “I got a lot stronger and that’s something you can’t build while you’re in competition. My speed is back. I think I’m actually faster. And there’s also sort of an effect where you’ve got more red blood cells in your system now. So they say your cardio is actually better.”
The prime years for a women’s soccer player — between the ages of 25 and 29 — overlap with their prime reproductive years. Until recently, however, women had to make a choice between a family and a career. Now many are choosing to do both.
Sophia Wilson, a former NWSL scoring champion and MVP, and Mallory Swanson, her teammate on the U.S. Women’s National Team, both missed play in 2025 to give birth. They are among the 28 mothers in the league, and more are coming with the most recent NWSL availability report showing six teams missing players going on maternity leave.
Angel City player Claire Emslie, who is pregnant, tours a nursery the team built for players.
(Courtesy of Angel City FC)
Emslie’s own experiences tell her those numbers will continue to grow.
“I got to a point where I need[ed] to start thinking about life after football. And if I want to have a family, because of the biological clock, I need to start trying soon,” Emslie said. “It’s now kind of a normal thing to have a baby and come back.”
“Now I wish I’d done it younger,” she added. “Having a baby and continuing to play, they’re on the journey with you. So to have, say, five, six years professional football with a family, that’s amazing.”
Smith believes the willingness of star players such as Wilson and Swanson — and before them, Alex Morgan and Manchester United’s Hannah Blundell — has brought important focus to the issue of motherhood in soccer.
“That is where the game is going. I think you probably can see it across the league, the number of mothers,” Smith said. “And that’s a variety of circumstances. It may be mothers whose partners have carried children. It may be also players that are thinking about having children later and want to freeze their eggs. What I wanted to make sure is that we, we supported all of those different circumstances.”
That included designing and stocking the nursery at the training facility Angel City inherited from the NFL’s Rams in the fall of 2024.
“We put stuff in there for Caiden, for Sarah’s son, because it wasn’t just for Claire,” Smith said. “We wanted to make sure that all of the players and their partners felt good and comfortable. You just want to take a little bit of stress off of the players.”
Angel City captain Sarah Gorden with her oldest son, Caiden, during a photo shoot.
(Courtesy of Angel City FC)
When the club inherited the nine-acre practice facility in 2024 from the Rams, Angel City designated the largest of the offices for the nursery. The office belonged to head coach Sean McVay, and now it features walls painted pink and light blue and a crib, a changing table and a menagerie of stuffed animals.
“We want players to come to Angel City because we are the absolute best place for you to grow as an athlete, as a human,” Uhrman said. “And, you know, thinking about the fact that they might want to become mothers at some time or they’re coming in as mothers is really important.”
Gorden remembers a time not so long ago when that wasn’t the case. Early in her career in Chicago, she said she had to bring her son to a team meeting and was punished by being benched. Another time she couldn’t find child care on the day of a game — a Mother’s Day game.
“I just remember bawling all morning and just feeling so stressed,” she said.
Gorden has a fiance who is helping with parenting and her son Caiden, now in middle school, has grown into a sweet, empathetic boy.
“So yeah,” Gorden said, smiling through the tears, “a lot of progress. The league gets it now.”
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The highly anticipated 30th WNBA season tipped off Friday with three games, including the expansion Toronto Tempo’s first-ever contest.
The action continued Saturday with a full slate, including Caitlin Clark’s return after an injury-riddled sophomore season.
Clark and the Indiana Fever hosted the Dallas Wings on Saturday afternoon in a matchup featuring the four most recent No. 1 overall picks. The Wings outlasted the Fever 107-104, but the game was defined by Azzi Fudd’s — the most recent top pick — underwhelming debut.
Dallas Wings guards Azzi Fudd and Paige Bueckers react during the first half of the Fever’s season opener at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis on May 9, 2026. (Grace Smith/IndyStar / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
Fudd played 18 minutes off the bench, scoring three points — the lowest ever by a No. 1 overall pick in a WNBA debut.
Wings coach Jose Fernandez addressed Fudd’s performance after the game, encouraging the rookie to, “Keep doing what she’s doing, it’s her first year in the league. We got five really talented backcourt players.”
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In addition to Fudd, Dallas’ backcourt features last year’s top draft pick Paige Bueckers, last season’s No. 12 overall pick Aziaha James, four-time All-Star Arike Ogunbowale and starting guard Odyssey Sims.
Until Saturday, Kelsey Plum held the record for the lowest-scoring debut by a No. 1 pick. Selected first overall by the then-San Antonio Stars in 2017, she scored just four points in her debut. The Stars relocated to Las Vegas in 2018 and was subsequently rebranded as the Aces.
Dallas Wings guard Azzi Fudd warms up before the game against the Indiana Fever at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 9, 2026. (Michael Hickey/Getty Images)
Despite the slow start to her first season in the league, Plum ended the year with All-Rookie team honors. In the years since, she’s been named to four All-Star teams and won two championships with the Aces.
The Wings’ decision to take Fudd with the No. 1 overall pick drew controversy, raising questions about whether Bueckers’ personal relationship with her influenced the selection. Late last month, Bueckers said last month it did not.
Azzi Fudd poses with WNBA Commissioner Cathy Engelbert after being selected first overall by the Dallas Wings during the 2026 WNBA Draft at The Shed in New York City on April 13, 2026. (Angelina Katsanis/Getty Images)
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“Azzi Fudd was the No. 1 draft pick because she earned it, and it had nothing to do with me and everything to do with who she is as a human being, who she is as a basketball player,” Bueckers said, according to ESPN.
Neither Bueckers nor Fudd has publicly updated their relationship status since the April draft.
“Quite frankly, I believe me and Azzi’s personal relationship is nobody’s business but our own,” Bueckers also said in April. “And what we choose to share is completely up to us.”
Next up, the Wings play their home opener on Tuesday when they host the Atlanta Dream.
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