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María Pilar León Cebrián (born 13 June 1995), known as Mapi León, is an Aragonese professional footballer who plays as a defender for FC Barcelona.
León began her career with her hometown club of Prainsa Zaragoza before moving on to Espanyol and Atlético Madrid. At Atlético, she made the transition from a left-back to a center-back under the guidance of coach Ángel Villacampa. León won the first league and Copa de la Reina titles of her career at the club.
In 2017, León signed for Barcelona with a fee of 50,000 euros. Domestically with Barcelona, she has won five Copas de la Reina, four league titles, and three Supercopa Femenina. On the continental stage, she has played in five Champions League finals with the club in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 winning the 2021, 2023 and 2024.
As of 2023 she refused to play for the Spanish National Team, citing unequal and unfair conditions.
More information: Twitter-María León
María Pilar León Cebrián was born 13 June 1995. León was raised with an older brother in La Almozara, a district of Zaragoza.
León started playing volleyball at age seven, and played many other sports as a child including baseball. Later she started playing futsal for local team Gran Vía, where she played as a winger. Around this age, she was granted a scholarship to go to an art school, but turned down the award to focus on football.
León was discovered by David Magaña, a former Zaragoza CFF sporting director, who noticed her and her brother playing football while shopping in a supermarket. She began training with the club at age 11.
After developing with their B team for two years, León debuted with Prainsa Zaragoza when she was 16. Her match debut with Zaragoza was against Barcelona.
In 2013, Zaragoza made it to the final of the Copa de la Reina, where they faced León's future club FC Barcelona. In her last ever match with the club, León started the final as Zaragoza lost 4-0 to Barcelona, who completed their first domestic double.
At 18, León joined RCD Espanyol in 2013, where she remained for only one season.
In 2014, León joined Atlético Madrid. In 2015, León debuted in the UWCL against Russian side Zorky Krasnogorsk, where they were defeated 2-0 in the first leg. Atlético later came back 3-0 to win the tie, but were defeated in the Round of 16 by Lyon on a 9-1 aggregate score.
Within her time at Atlético, León switched from playing as a left-back to playing as a centre-back under the influence of former left-back and Atlético head coach Ángel Villacampa. León won the first league title of her career in the 2016-17 season, when Atlético defeated Real Sociedad on the final matchday of the season. Her performances throughout the season earned her a place in the league's best XI of the season, as well as putting her on FC Barcelona's radar.
On 24 August 2017, León's transfer to Barcelona was made official, the club's sixth signing ahead of the 2017-18 season. With a year remaining on her contract with Atlético Madrid, León signed for a fee of €50,000.
In 2020, León was named as a candidate for UEFA Women's Team of the Year for the first time in her career.
On 6 January 2021, León started the first competitive match at the Camp Nou played by women's teams.
León criticised the Royal Spanish Football Federation for not implementing video-assistant referreeing (VAR) in the competition, which the men's version of the competition does have.
In March 2021, she was suspended for four matches and fined €601 by the RFEF for criticising the quality of refereeing in the Primera Iberdrola after receiving a controversial red card against Real Madrid. Barcelona appealed the decision to the Administrative Tribunal of Sport (TAD), and León was able to play against second-place opponent Levante in their upcoming league match. Spain's footballing union, the Association of Spanish Footballers (AFE), issued a statement of support for León, calling the suspension an attempt to curtail her freedom of speech and expression. The following month, she made her 100th league appearance with Barcelona against UD Granadilla. León became a league champion with Barcelona for the second time on 9 May 2021.
Barcelona made it to the 2021 UEFA Women's Champions League Final after defeating Paris Saint-Germain on an aggregate score of 2-1. They won 4–0, the first UEFA Women's Champions League title in club history. León was named to the 2020-21 UEFA Women's Champions League Squad of the Season, and was later listed as a nominee to the UEFA Women's Champions League Defender of the Season award. Following the conclusion of the Champions League, León played each minute of the remaining semifinal and final of the 2021 Copa de la Reina. Barcelona won the final 4-2, achieving the continental treble for the first time in their history.
On 20 November 2022, she scored on her 200th appearance for Barcelona in her team's 8–0 thrashing of Alavés in a league game.
On 3 June 2023, Mapi played the entire match as Barcelona won 3-2 against VfL Wolfsburg in the final to win her second Women's Champions League title. She won The Best prize during that season.
During the 2023-2024 season, León suffered a knee injury that avoided her to participate in the regular competition, the UWCL and Copa de la Reina. She returned in June, 9 in a match against Real Betis Balompié Féminas.
More information: Instagram-María León
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