Ballon D'Or winner and Spain captain Alexia Putellas tears ACL on eve of Women's European Championships

Ballon D'Or winner and Barcelona captain Alexia Putellas has ruptured her anterior cruciate ligament on the eve of the 2022 Women's European Championships. Key points: Putellas tore her ACL in Spain's final training session before the start of the European Championships The 28-year-old won the Ballon D'Or and FIFA Best Player of the Year awards for her record-breaking year with Spain and Barcelona A FIFPro study released in February found Putellas had played the highest number of minutes of any woman player in the world over the past three years Putellas, who last week became the first woman to record 100 caps for Spain, suffered the injury in her final training session on Tuesday, just over 24 hours before the start of the tournament. In addition to her Ballon D'Or win, the 28-year-old was also named FIFA's Best Women's Player of the Year following her dazzling season with the Spanish giants, finishing as top-scorer in the Champions League with 11 goals on top of the 18 she scored in the league to help Barcelona win their third consecutive title. Putellas has been instrumental in Spain's rise up the ranks, with a study released in February by FIFPro — football's global players' union — finding she had played the highest number of match minutes of any other woman player in the world for club and country over the past three years.