Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati used to watch Lionel Messi winning Ballon d’Or trophies and think it was “incredible” but now that she has won two herself, she is taking it in her stride.

The 26-year-old playmaker was crowned the best women’s player in the world for the second time in Paris this week and told media including AFP how she is managing fame and still looking to improve.

Bonmati played a key part in a sensational Barcelona quadruple last season, scoring in the Champions League final to defeat Lyon and secure back-to-back European triumphs, as well as netting in the final as Spain won the Nations League.

“I’m taking it as something normal, I know there are people who will see it from the outside as something extraordinary, but from inside it’s normal and I don’t think much about it,” said Bonmati, with her two trophies gleaming resplendently on a chair beside her at the Johan Cruyff Stadium. “Honestly, I don’t see it as extraordinary, even if some people do… when I was little I also looked on from the outside, watching from my house seeing Messi lift Ballons d’Or and thinking it was incredible.

“Once you are on the inside, you take it normally, naturally, although if I stop to think about it, it’s something really big.”

Bonmati led Spain to the World Cup in 2023, taking the limelight for club and country after her teammate Alexia Putellas suffered a severe knee injury.

The midfielder stepped up to fill the gap and has dominated the women’s game since.

She has become known for her resilience, a family trait, after her parents fought to change Spanish naming laws so that she could take her mother’s surname, Bonmati, ahead of her father’s, which was previously illegal.

Last year she called out abuses of power and disrespect from the Spanish football federation after the Luis Rubiales scandal at a UEFA awards ceremony.

That streak of strength showed up again this week after Bonmati received heavy criticism in some areas of Spain for giving part of her acceptance speech at the Ballon d’Or in her native Catalan tongue.

“It’s my language, it’s the language I am most comfortable in,” said Bonmati. “I don’t think we should be justifying it every time we speak in Catalan — because when I speak in English nobody says anything.

“I think the more languages I speak is a good thing, and (even if) Catalan is not well received in some areas, I will not change.”

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