Pau Cubarsi has been named the best Barcelona player of the 2025-26 season. The Pau Cubarsi Aldo Rovira Award win was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon, hours after the 19-year-old centre-back was also shortlisted for the Kopa Trophy at next month’s Ballon d’Or ceremony — and a day before he is expected to start the Blaugrana’s Champions League opener against Feyenoord.
Patri Guijarro took the women’s prize, making it a Barca double on a day when the club collected individual recognition in almost every category going.
The Pau Cubarsi Aldo Rovira Award, decided over lunch at the Polo
The jury for the 17th edition of the Premio Memorial Aldo Rovira met at the Real Club de Polo de Barcelona on Tuesday lunchtime and voted after what Mundo Deportivo described as an intense deliberation. Santi Nolla, the paper’s director and CEO, sits on the panel of journalists.
Cubarsi was honoured for his part in a season that brought Barcelona the La Liga title and the Supercopa de Espana. Patri was recognised for her role in the women’s clean sweep — Liga F, the Copa de la Reina, the Supercopa de Espana and the Champions League.
The award was created by former Barcelona director Josep Lluis Rovira in memory of his son Aldo, who died in a traffic accident in 2009 at the age of 37. It has become one of the more meaningful things a Barca player can win, precisely because it is voted on by the reporters who watch every match. The club now has to find a gap in two very full diaries to hand the trophies over.
A Kopa Trophy nomination to go with it
Earlier on Tuesday, Cubarsi was named on the ten-man shortlist for the 2026 Men’s Young Talent of the Year — the Kopa Trophy — alongside Lamine Yamal. The full list, published by the Ballon d’Or, also features Kerim Alajbegovic, Ayyoub Bouaddi, Yan Diomande, Lennart Karl, Eli Junior Kroupi, Johan Manzambi, Ibrahim Maza and Warren Zaire-Emery.
Lamine has won the last two editions and could complete a hat-trick. Cubarsi’s case is built on volume and reliability rather than highlights: 48 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona, then every minute of Spain’s eight matches at the World Cup this summer alongside Aymeric Laporte, with only one goal conceded across the tournament, per Barca Universal. Lamine, for the record, finished 2025-26 with 24 goals and 18 assists in 45 games.
Both are expected to make the final 30 for the Ballon d’Or itself. None of this is new territory for the defender — he went into August as the favourite for the 2026 Golden Boy, and he and Lamine were the two teenagers who started a World Cup final for Spain before either of them turned 20.
Six Barca players on the women’s Ballon d’Or list
Patri’s Aldo Rovira win came on the same morning her name appeared on the women’s Ballon d’Or shortlist. Mundo Deportivo report that six players from the current squad are nominated: Esmee Brugts, Caroline Graham Hansen, Claudia Pina, Ewa Pajor, Cata Coll and Patri herself, whose first speech as captain set the tone for this season.
Alexia Putellas and Mapi Leon are also nominated for the season they played at Barcelona before joining London City Lionesses, as is former Barca forward Mariona Caldentey, now at Arsenal. Aitana Bonmati, winner of the last three awards, has not been nominated: Mundo Deportivo report that France Football left her out after the serious injury that kept her away from the decisive stretch of last season, although she did play in the Champions League final. Vicky Lopez and Clara Serrajordi are up for the women’s young player award.
Barca Femeni are shortlisted for Women’s Club of the Year and Pere Romeu for Women’s Coach of the Year, while Joan Garcia is one of ten men in the running for Goalkeeper of the Year. The ceremony is in London on 26 October.
Feyenoord first
Cubarsi will not have long to enjoy any of it. Barcelona host Feyenoord at the Spotify Camp Nou on Wednesday at 18:45 CEST (17:45 BST), with Eric Garcia suspended and Frenkie de Jong and Roony Bardghji out injured, which points to a central pairing of Cubarsi and Andreas Christensen. Our predicted line-up and team news has the likely XI.
Hansi Flick said at Tuesday’s press conference that his squad has the quality to win the competition but has to prove it. The player his own press corps has just voted the best at the club will be the one starting that proof from the back.
Aldo Rovira and women’s Ballon d’Or details are reported by Mundo Deportivo, whose Spanish-language reporting is translated here. The Kopa Trophy shortlist was published by the Ballon d’Or and reported by Barca Universal. Squad and fixture information is published by FC Barcelona.
