Soccer Football - UEFA Women's Champions League - FC Barcelona v OH Leuven - Estadi Johan Cruyff, Barcelona, Spain - November 12, 2025 FC Barcelona's Aitana Bonmati in action REUTERS/Albert Gea
(fixes slug, no change to story)
Jan 19 (Reuters) - Spain and Barcelona midfielder Aitana Bonmati is taking a philosophical approach to her recovery from a broken leg sustained in December, welcoming the time away from the game but warning opponents she planned to come back better than ever.
Speaking to reporters from the International Sports Press Association on Monday, the 28-year-old midfield schemer said her recovery was going well and that she was enjoying the rest but that she wants to get back to winning as soon as possible.
"I expect to recover well from my injury and come back the best I can," Bonmati said. "In my mind, I want to come back better than I was before, and I'm taking this time to stay calm and to recover the energy."
Originally given a five-month prognosis for her return, Bonmati declined to say when she would be fit to play again, but she seemed relaxed and confident as she answered questions in Spanish and English.
"I don't have the exact date, because neither the doctors nor the physios have it. I think we go according to the deadlines, and we just have to see how it evolves," she said.
Bonmati revealed that she was enjoying the pause from playing, spending time with friends and family and reading books about World War Two in between treatments, rehab and lessons to improve her English, and that the opportunity to take a mental as well as a physical break was a welcome one.
"The sports life, it's so intense, and you never have time to stop - not only to stop the body, but also the mind, because it's hard," she said.
AIPS journalists voted Bonmati the best female athlete of 2025 ahead of Kenyan distance runner Beatrice Chebet, and it was a year with plenty of ups and downs for the Spaniard.
BONMATI SCOOPS UP INDIVIDUAL ACCOLADES
Bonmati won individual accolades, such as the FIFA Best women's player award for the third time, and more domestic trophies with Barcelona but there was an agonising 1-0 defeat by Arsenal in the Champions League final and a devastating loss to England on penalties in the European Championship final.
"With Barca and the national team, we achieved all the finals we can, but in sports, sometimes you lose, no? It's an option, and it was little, little things that decided the trophies," she explained.
"But I think that we have to value the path, what we did to achieve those finals. I think the most difficult thing is to be inall the finals every year - then you can win or you can lose, but the difficult part is the path, to be there every single year."
Though the women's game has come on in leaps and bounds in recent years, Bonmati took the opportunity to call for greater investment, especially in Spain, where Barca dominate.
"I think that Spanish women's football has taken huge steps in recent years. But I'm going to be clear - there have been two teams on their own, Barca and the national team. There is no adequate infrastructure for Spanish women's football to continue growing," she said.
"Everyone sees it, they see it every weekend. We need more resources, we need a competitive professional league, a league that hooks and that people want to see, (one that is) fun, competitive."
The playmaker said that women's football has the potential to be a vehicle for change in the world.
"I think that in Africa, women can be given more opportunities, that they can have the same opportunities as men - not only in sports, but in society itself, and that one thing leads to the other."
(Reporting by Philip O'Connor; Editing by Ken Ferris)
