She played the position more than she played the ball, reading a match several passes ahead and dictating its rhythm from deep midfield rather than chasing it. That intelligence made the injury that followed her second Ballon d'Or harder to watch: she tore her ACL days before the 2022 European Championship, missing the tournament entirely, then spent a year rebuilding a knee before returning to form in time to help Spain win the 2023 World Cup. The same year as her injury, she was among fifteen Spanish players who publicly refused national team selection over conditions in the program, a stand that cost some of them their places and reshaped how the federation operated afterward.

She grew up in Mollet del Vallès, just outside Barcelona, and built her adult life around the club and city that had once let her go. After more than a decade at the club that defined her, she has now moved to London City Lionesses. The girl Barcelona didn't want became the player it couldn't replace, and then, finally, the player it had to let go a second time.