At Euro 2025, Aitana Bonmati has already demonstrated her ability to be patient, and wait for the gaps to open up. Here, though, the world’s best player is sitting in front of a tactics board, pushing markers across a Subbuteo pitch and explaining how Spain defeated England to win the 2023 World Cup final.
Across sport, and certainly in football, It is rare to come across examples of the best in the world calmly articulating the little moments that separate their genius from the rest. But Bonmati is an exception in many respects and, at 27, the midfielder’s awareness of space and her ability to exploit it is what defines her generational talent.