Alexia Putellas is the world's best player for a third time — and the first to win it as a WSL player

Alexia Putellas was crowned the best women's footballer in the world for a third time last night, collecting the Ballon d'Or Féminin — and for the first time, she did it as a player in England's Barclays Women's Super League. The London City Lionesses captain joined from Barcelona this summer, and her win makes her the league's first active player to hold the title. The league she now leads is having a moment of its own: four of the world's top ten clubs play in it, its title race is the closest of Europe's big leagues, and five of the ten biggest women's league crowds of the past year were at its grounds.