Barcelona’s Vicky López: ‘I think I bring a lot of joy, youth and playfulness’ | OneFootball

At 19 years, eight months and 12 days Vicky López is a history maker, record breaker and Barcelona icon. The Spanish “golden girl” has played more than 120 matches for the club of her dreams, scoring 32 goals along the way.

López signed in July 2022 at 16, making her first-team debut that season under Jonatan Giráldez and leaving no doubt she belongs among the best. No Barcelona player, male or female, has made their Camp Nou, Champions League or el clásico debut as young as López did. The following season she became the club’s youngest goalscorer in el clásico.

“I arrived here with the intention to be only part of the first team,” López says, sitting confidently at the Estadi Johan Cruyff. “This season is the year that I’m playing the most. The last three seasons here were hard – I’ve had to adapt a lot and it’s been tough. So to be able to enjoy this season is everything to me.”

The Madrid native has played 36 matches this season and has 10 goals, one match and one goal from equalling last season’s totals. Barcelona need a maximum of three points from five games to win Liga F, which would be López’s fourth league title and her 11th trophy with the club. They are also preparing for a Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich.

Most younger players such as Clara Serrajordi and Aïcha Cámara have made their first team debuts over the past two seasons but López is in her fourth. “They have asked me for some advice but obviously they see me as one of theirs,” López says. “If they need more serious advice then obviously they go to Alexia [Putellas] or Patri [Guijarro].”

Putellas, the Barcelona captain and two-time Ballon d’Or winner, said of López last summer in an interview while with the Spain squad: “I see myself reflected in her. In how she started and that passion that she has for this sport. And also that drive to win and do so many things.”

López’s achievements are a reward for her love for football, which pushed her through the hardest years of her life. Her mother died of a brain tumour in 2018 when López was 11. At 15 she became Liga F’s youngest player, with Madrid CFF. Putellas made her Barcelona debut at 16 and lost her father to illness two years later.

López played one season in Spain’s first division for Madrid before Barcelona signed her on a five-year contract. She honours her mum after every goal she scores, pointing at the sky.

In her debut season with Barcelona she made 13 appearances, scoring two goals. “I didn’t imagine that I would play so many matches in my first season,” the winger says. “Thanks to Jonatan, I was able to play a lot in my first year.

“I was really shy when I first arrived,” López adds with a smile. “Especially in the first training sessions, the pace of training was completely different. But for me, it was a dream. To train with the best in the world was the only thing that I wanted.

“I don’t really remember my first training, but I remember that I was shy and I wasn’t myself 100%. I’m not shy any more. I’m fully myself, but I also know that on the pitch I still have a lot more to give.”

Of the 22 players in Barcelona’s last Champions League matchday squad, seven were 20 or younger. “I think I bring a lot of joy, youth and playfulness,” López says. “A mix of young players and veterans is the best mix that a team could have.”

López is a natural on the ball, often compared to Lamine Yamal. They both shine on the wing for Barcelona, wearing 19 on their back, putting smiles on faces with their magical displays.

For Spain, López made her debut at 17 in the Nations League and she has since been indispensable, playing in the team’s biggest moments, including the 2025 European Championship final against England. One of the only times she missed a national team camp was in May 2024 when she had to do her selectividad, the equivalent of the UK’s GCSEs.

López is the future of a Barcelona team who will not have Putellas or Aitana Bonmatí for ever. “I’m still working to be able to become who I want to be,” López says. “In the end, I still just enjoy playing football. I’m a person who transmits happiness to people who watch me play.”

Talking points

Questions for Madrid: Real Madrid are a powerhouse in the men’s game but are not putting equivalent resources into their women’s side. They have almost secured second in Liga F again but will end the season without a trophy. Barcelona stand in front of them every year in the league and Madrid fall at their great rivals’ feet in cup competitions too. The teams have met six times this season and Madrid have lost by an aggregate 25-2. Why isn’t the club working for the women’s team to compete better against Barcelona?

Popp’s landmark moment?: Alex Popp has played what may have been her last Women’s Champions League match after 14 years with Wolfsburg that have brought three Champions League titles and seven Frauen Bundesliga titles. She is the second player to make more than 100 appearances in Uefa club competitions and is in the top 10 all-time goalscorers with 40 goals. This summer Popp will join third-tier Borrusia Dortmund, who have been climbing the German lower tiers with the aim of landing in the top flight.

Quote of the day

“If you told me when I started in 2012 that today we would be celebrating all of this … It’s not the win, it’s not my 500 matches, it’s so much more than that. It’s the full stadium, the boys and girls. Who knows if in a few years one of them will be celebrating 500 matches with Barcelona?” – Alexia Putellas after making her 500th Barcelona appearance, against Real Madrid at the Camp Nou.

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Header image: [Photograph: Raquel Alvarado/The Guardian]