Aitana Bonmatí looked distraught and you could be forgiven for thinking she was on the losing side. Hands on the side of her head, eyes closed, face screwed up. But then you look at her movement and energy and it gives the real story away; together with the depleted players in blue she is running away from. As the mercurial Spanish midfielder races towards her teammate Mariona Caldentey, England’s Millie Bright stands with hands on hips, Georgia Stanway leans forward, hands on her knees, and Alex Greenwood adjusts her hair above the heavy bandage from the injury she has picked up mid-match.
They are the vanquished of Spain’s World Cup winners, of a team of fighters that cruised towards becoming the best on the pitch despite draining and lengthy battles off it, and they are the vanquished of Bonmatí herself, the unplayable engine of Spain and Barcelona who this year moved past her club and country teammate Alexia Putellas and into the spotlight as the world’s best.
