Vicky Losada


María Victoria Losada Gómez, commonly known as Vicky Losada, is a Spanish football midfielder who currently captains FC Barcelona in Spain's Primera División. She is a member of the Spanish national team.

Club career

2004–2007: Development at ''La Masia''

Losada came through the ranks of Barcelona's youth development program, La Masia. She spent two years with the development squads before making her first team debut in 2006. Unfortunately, Barcelona were relegated at the end of her debut season, and as a result, she opted for a move to Catalan rival RCD Espanyol.

2007–2008: Season-long stay at Espanyol

The season she spent with Espanyol allowed Losada to continue experiencing top-tier football. The team was knocked out of the Copa de la Reina in a 4-3 aggregate loss to Prainsa Zaragoza. Espanyol finished the season in fourth place as Barcelona were promoted back to the Superliga at the end of the 2007–2008 season, prompting her return.

2008–2015: Return to Barcelona

Following Barcelona's promotion to the first league in 2008, she returned to her childhood club. For the new few seasons following their return from the segunda, Barcelona recorded regular mid-table finishes in the Primera Division as well as regular quarterfinal and semifinal exits in the Copa de la Reina. 2011 marked new beginnings for the club, as Losada started in the final of the 2011 Copa de la Reina, helping Barcelona win their first major trophy in almost two decades. The following 2011–2012 season, Barcelona would go on to win their first ever Primera Division title, solidifying themselves as a force in Spanish football. Losada scored 15 goals in that campaign.
In the years that followed, Barcelona continued to establish dominance in the Spanish league, winning three more consecutive league titles and two more Copas de la Reina. Barcelona's league position at the end of the 2011–2012 season made them eligible for the UEFA Women's Champions League in the following season, where Barcelona drew Arsenal in the round of 32. Losada's Champions League debut was a 0-4 loss against Arsenal away. Consistent performances throughout the next few months from both Athletic and Barcelona meant the 2012–2013 league title was to be decided in the final week of the competition. Losada started the last match of the season against Athletic which ended 2-1 for Barcelona, where she earned her second league title. Barcelona completed the domestic double by defeating Prainsa Zaragoza 4-1 in the final of the 2013 Copa de la Reina, with Losada starting and scoring the first goal.
Losada assumed captaincy at the start of the 2013–2014 season, following the departure of club legend Ana María Escribano. Barcelona recorded their second consecutive domestic double, this time finishing the regular season with a ten point lead over second place Athletic Bilbao. In Europe, Barcelona were much more successful than the previous season. In the Round of 16 match versus Zürich, Losada recorded her first ever Champions League goal in a match that ended 3-0 to Barcelona. The 2013-14 season concluded with another win in the 2014 Copa de la Reina, where Losada did not feature in the final but was awarded the title due to her participation in the campaign.

2014: Stint with Western New York Flash

On February 27, 2014, it was announced that she would spend the remainder of the 2013–2014 European season and the European offseason in the NWSL effective March 17. She joined the Western New York Flash alongside compatriots Adriana Martín and Sonia Bermúdez. Losada was voted the National Women's Soccer League Player of the Week by the media for Week 1 of the 2014 season for recording two goals and an assist in her debut. She ended the regular season campaign with 23 games played and 6 assists as the Flash finished 7th in the table.
Losada returned to Barcelona for the last few months of 2014.

2015–2016: Two seasons at Arsenal

On January 21, 2015, Barcelona announced that Losada was to join Arsenal effective March 1. In the statement, she cited one of her reasons for leaving was to challenge herself against English physicality, and that she would love to end her career back at Barcelona.
Losada started in each knockout match of Arsenal's 2015 League Cup campaign. She started the final against Notts County and was on the receiving end of a late tackle by Notts County captain Laura Bassett, who was subsequently sent off with a red card. Arsenal won the match 3-0, making it Losada's first title with the club.
In the 2015–16 FA Women's Cup, she played in each match of the knockout stages. She came on at halftime in the match versus Birmingham City, and played through extra time as the club advanced to the quarterfinals on penalties. In the quarterfinals, she started the match against Notts County, where the club again advanced to the next round on penalties. She also started in Arsenal's 7-0 semifinal rout of Sunderland, but was subbed out in the 35th minute. She started and played all 90 minutes of the final against Chelsea and won her second title with the club when they won 1-0.

2016–present: Second return to Barcelona

After her year and a half long stint with Arsenal, she returned to Barcelona in November 2016. In the months following her comeback, Barcelona advanced through the group stages and knockout rounds of the UEFA Women's Champions League to reach the club's first ever semi-final of the tournament. She started in both legs of the tie, losing 5-1 on aggregate to PSG. Barcelona also lost out on another league title and finished second, but were redeemed by earning yet another Copa de la Reina title. After scoring the game winning goal against Valencia to propel Barcelona into the final, Losada started in the final, a 4-1 thrashing of Atleti.
Losada assumed full captaincy upon her full-season return in 2017–2018. Barcelona made it to the quarterfinals of the Champion's League, but were knocked out 3-1 on aggregate by eventual champions Lyon. Barcelona placed second in the league to Atletico Madrid for the second season in a row, but again redeemed themselves with their 2018 Copa de la Reina run. The semifinal against Bilbao ended 2-2 in extra time and forced a penalty shootout, with Losada successfully converting hers and making way for the team to reach the final. Losada started in the final, a 1-0 extra time win against Atleti.
Barcelona found new heights in the 2018–2019 season, reaching the semifinals of the Champions League. Losada missed the away leg but started in the home leg, where she captained her side to a 1-0 win over Bayern that saw Barcelona through to their first ever Champion's League Final. The day before the match, Losada said in an interview that the final was going to be "the match of her life."
On May 18, 2019, Losada captained Barcelona's first UWCL final against long-standing European powerhouse Lyon. Barcelona were unable to contain Lyon's overbearing front three of Ada Hegerberg, Eugénie Le Sommer and Shanice van de Sanden, and the match ended up a 4-1 loss to Barcelona.
Losada missed the first few months of the 2019–2020 season due to injury, but made her comeback against Deportivo de La Coruña on November 24, 2019, subbing on for Alexia Putellas in the 65th minute.

International career

Losada is a member of the Spanish national team.
Her first senior national team cap was in June 19, 2010, a 2011 Women's World Cup Qualifying match versus England. Losada started as a substitute and entered the match in the 81st minute for Sonia Bermúdez. In June 2013, national team coach Ignacio Quereda selected Losada in the squad for UEFA Women's Euro 2013 in Sweden. Losada played in each match of the group stages but was on the bench for Spain's tournament exit, a 3-1 loss to Norway in the quarterfinals.
Her first goal for La Roja came in the 44th minute of a 12-0 2015 Women's World Cup Qualifying rout of Macedonia. She scored two more against Estonia in Spain's 2015 World Cup qualifying group, a campaign that ended up with Spain qualifying for their first ever Women's World Cup. Losada was called up to Spain's 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup squad in Canada and at their opening match on June 9, she scored Spain's first ever World Cup goal against Costa Rica. That match finished 1-1. Losada's goal would end up giving Spain their only point as one of their only two goals of the entire tournament, where they exited the group stages with two losses and a draw. Not soon after, Losada and her 22 teammates in the tournament issued a statement calling for the resignation of long-tenured coach Ignacio Quereda, citing poor preparation for the tournament and lost confidence. Quereda resigned on July 30, 2015.
Under new national team coach Jorge Vilda, Spain won in every match of their 2017 Euro Qualifier group, where Losada scored 4 goals in 3 games versus Ireland, Portugal and Montenegro. At the 2017 EURO, Spain put in an uninspiring group stage performance, their only win coming against Portugal, in which Losada scored a goal as the match finished 2-0.La Roja made it to the quarterfinals of the tournament on their head-to-head record and faced Austria in the quarterfinals. Losada started the match but was subbed out in the 68th minute for Alexia Putellas. The match would end up going to penalties where Spain would exit the tournament.
In the next two years, Spain would end up winning the 2018 Cyprus Cup with Losada in the squad and the 2019 Algarve Cup, in which she started in the final. Spain performed much better at the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup, making it to the Round of 16 for the first time in the country's history. Losada started that match versus the United States but was taken off in the 32nd minute after a collision with Sam Mewis that gave her a black eye. Spain put up an impressive display against the eventual tournament winners but ended up losing 2-1. Losada played 77 minutes throughout the entire tournament.

International goals

Honours

Club

; FC Barcelona
;Arsenal
;Spain