Aitana Bonmati Biography
Aitana Bonmat Conca, a professional football player for Liga F club Barcelona and the Spanish women’s national team, was born on January 18, 1998 (Catalan: [jtan mmti]; Spanish: [ajtana ommati]).
Bonmat has been a member of Barcelona since 2012 and spent six years growing via La Masia. She made bench appearances for Barcelona until her breakthrough year in the 2018–19 season after being promoted to the first squad ahead of the 2016–17 campaign. She began the first Barcelona-hosted UEFA Women’s Champions League final in 2019 and was named Catalan Player of the Year for the first time in her career.
Bonmat was crucial to Barcelona’s continental treble-winning effort throughout the whole 2020–21 season. In the 2021 UEFA Women’s Champions League final, she put on one of the most impressive performances of her career, scoring Barcelona’s third goal and earning MVP of the Final honors.
With Spain’s U-17, U-19, and U-20 youth divisions, Bonmat experienced success. She has placed second in two FIFA Youth Women’s World Cups, one each with Spain’s U-17 and U-20 teams, and she has won two UEFA Youth Championships, one each with Spain’s U-17 and U-19 teams. She has competed for Spain’s senior women’s national team since 2017, and she was a member of the squad at the 2019 and 2023 World Cups.
Aitana Bonmati Early life
Aitana Bonmat was raised in Sant Pere de Ribes in the Garraf area of Catalonia; she was born on January 18, 1998, in Vilanova i la Geltr, the region’s headquarters. Her parents intended to do away with Spanish naming traditions that require the paternal surname to be placed first when she was born in 1998. She went by the name Aitana Bonmat Guidonet during the first two years of her existence because both of her surnames were given to her by her mother. In 2000, a reform in Spanish legislation made it possible to reverse the custom, and Bonmat was awarded her father surname, Conca, as her second surname and her maternal surname, Bonmat, as her first.
She used to play basketball, but when she was seven, she switched to football and joined mixed teams with guys She frequently remembers being made fun of by boys for her diminutive stature. She believes that playing football with male/mixed sex teams like CD Ribes and CF Cubelles helped her develop her strength and passion. When she was 13 years old, she joined Barcelona to play for their youth teams. To get to practice, she would endure two-hour public transportation rides with her father.
Aitana Bonmati Club career
FC Barcelona youth teams (2012–2016)
Juvenil-Cadet, FC Barcelona’s second-highest female development team, is where Bonmat began her career with the club. Bonmat won the team’s respective league and the Copa Catalunya championships in 2013 while playing for Juvenil-Cadet. She again won the league with Juvenil-Cadet the following year, going unbeaten. When the Copa Catalunya championship match proceeded to penalties, she scored her penalty but lost to Sant Gabriel in the shootout 4-2.
After two years with the team, Bonmat was promoted to Barcelona B. She had sporadic preseason appearances for the first team while playing for the B team. Through his 14 goals for Barcelona during the 2015–16 season, Bonmat was a key contributor to the team’s historic first-ever victory in Segunda Division, Group III. She was given a promotion to the first team of Barcelona by manager Xavi Llorens at the conclusion of the season.
FC Barcelona (2016–present)
2016–17 season
Against Real Sociedad in the 2016 Copa de la Reina quarterfinals, Bonmat made her professional debut for the first time, assisting Bárbara Latorre. She continued to play in the competition as a replacement, entering the game late in a 3-0 semifinal victory over Levante. Bonmat participated in the final matchup against Atletico Madrid, filling up for Gemma Gili in a match that Barcelona lost 2-3.
She was a member of Barcelona’s team at the Copa Catalunya the following month, at the start of the new season, where she played and scored in both of the competition’s games. With a 6-0 victory over Espanyol in the championship game, Bonmat won her first senior championship with the team. In the Round of 32 matchup against FK Minsk, she made her UEFA Women’s Champions League debut. In her first season with the senior team, Bonmat saw little action, appearing in thirteen league games with three starts and scoring twice, including a brace against Oiartzun. She assisted on Barcelona’s fourth goal in their 4-1 victory over Atlético Madrid in the 2017 Copa de la Reina championship game.
2017–18 season
The majority of Bonmat’s appearances in the 2017–18 season were in the league. Her lone goal for the year was also her first Champions League goal, scored against Lithuanian team Gintra Universitetas in the Round of 16. In the 2018 Copa de la Reina final, which Barcelona won after extra time, she replaced Toni Duggan. This was her second major championship with the team.
2018–19 season
Bonmat had a breakthrough year in 2018–19 because she frequently played for Spain’s first team. She also frequently participated in the Champions League, scoring against Glasgow City in the Round of 16. She started the game as Barcelona advanced to their first-ever Champions League final. Despite losing to Lyon 4-1, she had a moment that went viral as she outran Shanice van de Sanden down the right side to thwart a counterattack. Bonmat played all but five games across all competitions and finished the season with twelve league goals.
2019–20 season
Bonmat signed a new deal with Barcelona in the summer of 2019 that would keep her with the team until 2022, despite Bayern Munich making an attempt. She received 68% of the voting to be named the Catalan women’s player of the year for her efforts with Barcelona and Spain during the previous season.
Against Tacón in 2020, she made her 100th appearance for Barcelona as a substitute. She was subbed on in both of the Supercopa de Espaa games after suffering a slight injury, including the final, where Barcelona defeated Real Sociedad 10-1. A few months later, the 2019–20 league season was suspended by the RFEF due to the COVID–19 pandemic, and Barcelona was awarded the trophy. This was Aitana’s first league title with the team as a senior player.
2020–21 season
Due to COVID-19 worries, the 2019–20 Copa de la Reina final between Bonmat and Logroo was played in the middle of the 2020–21 season instead of as scheduled. With a shot from just inside the box, she gave Barcelona their second goal of the match, and for her efforts, she was named the Copa de la Reina Final MVP.
In the first leg of Barcelona’s Champions League semifinal match against Paris Saint-Germain, Bonmat assisted Jenni Hermoso to tie the score at 1-1. She began and was replaced by Asisat Oshoala in the 79th minute of Barcelona’s 2-1 win over PSG in the second leg. She began her second Champions League final, this one against Chelsea, on May 16, 2021. In the 21st minute, she scored off a pass from Alexia Putellas by gliding past Jess Carter and gave Barcelona a 3-0 lead.
With a convincing 4-0 victory, Barcelona claimed the title of champions, while Bonmat’s performance won her the title of MVP of the Champions League Final.[36] She was a first-time member of the UWCL Squad of the Season and her goal was chosen as the fifth-best of the competition. Later on in the season, the UEFA Women’s Champions League Midfielder of the Season nomination list included Bonmat.
International career
Youth
In the women’s national football team of Spain, Bonmat has participated at every junior level, including the U-17, U-19, and U-20 squads.
At the age of 15, Bonmat was selected to play for Spain at the 2014 UEFA Women’s U-17 Euro. With a brace against Germany in a 4-0 group stage victory, she scored her first goals for the U-17 national team and assisted Spain in taking first place in Group B. After defeating England 2-1, Spain went on to win the semifinals. The tournament’s runner-up was Bonmat, who advanced to the final where she had begun the game but lost when Spain was defeated by Germany on penalties. She spent 398 total minutes in the competition.
She took part in the 2014 FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup a few months later, largely as a replacement. Bonmat was a halftime replacement during Spain’s semifinal match against Italy, which Spain won 2-0 to progress. Bonmat came on for Spain in the 53rd minute of the championship match, which Japan won 0-2 over Spain.
She also competed for Spain’s U-17 team at the 2015 UEFA Women’s U-17 Euro, which they won. She scored her first and only goal of the competition in a 4-0 victory over Germany during the group round. Spain won Group A and went on to play France in the semifinals. She started the game and continued to play during the extra period, which led to penalties being called. She scored on her penalty kick to end the shootout 4-3 and move on to face Switzerland in the championship. Bonmat won her first international title with a 5-2 victory in the championship match, and as a result of her outstanding efforts throughout the competition, she was nominated to the Tournament Team.
Bonmat was a member of the 2017 UEFA Women’s Under-19 Euro champion Spain U-19 team. She was given a ban that required her to miss the first three group stage games after being shown a straight red card against Belgium in a qualification match. In the semifinal matchup versus Netherlands, she made her maiden tournament appearance in the captain’s role. Spain defeated France 3-2 to go to the championship match. Spain’s streak of three consecutive U-19 Euro finals losses was broken when Bonmat started and led the team to win over France. She won her second international championship with their victory because Spain was one of the three UEFA teams that qualified for the 2018 FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup.
At the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup 2018, Bonmat was once more named squad captain. Spain won twice in Group C, defeating Paraguay and Japan. By keeping the United States to a draw, they won the group and eliminated them from the tournament for the first time ever. The “Dare To Shine” player of the game was recognized as Bonmat. She scored twice against Nigeria in the quarterfinals, but the second goal was disallowed despite TV replays showing it cross the goal line.
Spain defeated France 2-1 in that game to go to the competition semi-final. The only red card in the whole tournament was given to Bonmat, who had started the game but was dismissed following a challenge on France’s Selma Bacha. She had played every minute of the competition before to being kicked out. Spain ultimately prevailed in the game, but Bonmat was disqualified from the final, when Spain lost to Japan 1-3.
She has also worked with the U-18 and U-16 national football teams of Catalonia.
Senior
For two 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup qualifying games, Bonmat received her first call-up to the senior national squad in November 2017 from head coach Jorge Vilda. When Amanda Sampedro was replaced in the 53rd minute against Austria, she made her senior national team debut for Spain.
When Bonmat was called up to compete in the 2018 Cyprus Cup in February 2018, it was her first senior international tournament experience. She only made a few appearances throughout the competition, but after Spain defeated Italy in the championship game, she won her first championship with Spain’s senior squad.
In April 2019, during a friendly match against England, she scored her first goal for the national team one and a half years after making her debut.
Bonmat was selected for the Spain team for the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup in May 2019. She participated in two games during the group stage, winning against South Africa and losing to Germany. Spain placed second in Group A and made history by progressing to the Women’s World Cup knockout stages. In the Round of 16, they suffered a 1-2 loss to eventual tournament winners United States. With 58 minutes remaining, Bonmat won the competition.
Later following year, Bonmat participated in all of Spain’s UEFA Women’s Euro 2022 qualifying games, finishing with six goals.
Bonmat was selected for the Spanish team to compete in the SheBelieves Cup in March 2020. She participated in two of the three games as Spain came in second place against the home team, the United States.
2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup
In a 2023 World Cup qualification game against the Faroe Islands on November 25, 2021, Bonmat scored twice in a 12-0 victory. She scored two more goals against Scotland five days later.
She assisted on Spain’s second goal in a 3-0 victory over Costa Rica in Spain’s opening World Cup game in 2023. Spain defeated Switzerland 5-1 to go to the quarterfinals on the strength of two goals from Bonmat.
Aitana Bonmati Style of play
The FCF referred to Bonmat as “pure elegance” and praised her ability to play in a variety of positions, including centrally, as a midfielder, or as a winger.
She was brought to Barcelona’s Cadet team by Jordi Ventura, who stressed after she won her first Catalan Player of the Year award that she is “an intense player, very competitive, and perfectly dominates with both legs.” According to Xavi Llorens, the former FCB Femeni coach, Bonmat has “innate elegance in driving the ball” and is “very competitive… versatile, can play in three, four, or five positions and does not lower her level.”
FIFA characterized her as “technically gifted” with “superb vision with plenty of character” and “combative when required with an eye for goal” in her player biography prior to the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.
Given that she has a low center of gravity and is therefore difficult for opponents to pull off the ball, Bonmat views her tiny stature as a benefit.
Aitana Bonmati Personal life
Xavi and Andrés Iniesta are Bonmat’s sports heroes. Vicky Losada, a former teammate of hers on the club and national teams, has been cited as an influence on her playing.
In order to prepare for the conclusion of her football career, Bonmat is currently studying physical activity and sports sciences at Ramon Llull University.
Aitana Bonmati Social Media
- Instagram handle: Aitana Bonmatí Conca (@aitana.bonmati)
- Twitter handle: Aitana Bonmatí Conca (@AitanaBonmati)
- Facebook: Aitana Bonmatí Conca
Aitana Bonmati Net Worth
Professional footballer Aitana Bonmat has a sizable net worth of almost $5 million. Although her wealth is publicly known, the public is not informed of her remuneration.
Despite this, there is no doubting that Aitana Bonmat has had a successful football career financially.
What position does Aitana Bonmati play?
In association football, the midfield position is known as the outfield. Defensive midfielders are those who play a solely defensive position for their team, breaking up attacks.
