Carmen Menayo

Carmen Menayo Montero (born 14 April 1998) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for the Liga F club Atlético Madrid.

Besides centre-back, she has played in the left-back position, although she has also played as a winger and forward.

On the international level, she played more than 50 matches with the youth levels of the Spanish national team.

On 19 June 2014, Menayo signed for Santa Teresa, which had just been promoted to the Primera División.

She made her debut in the Primera División on 7 September 2014, at the age of 16, where her team lost to Transportes Alcaine by 3 to 1.

She was a starter throughout the season and only lost one game per call with the Spain Under-17 team and scored a goal.

Although Menayo came to the team as a left winger or forward, she was delaying her position to the side, and with the injury of Paralejo, manager Juan Carlos Antúnez, reconverted her to central defender.

The team finished the season in ninth position, achieving the goal of maintaining category.

In the 2015-16 season, Menayo continued to start and only missed two games.

Santa Teresa remained in the Primera División by finishing in eleventh position.

Menayo always wanted to study physiotherapy in Madrid and in 2016, after rejecting several offers from other clubs, she had the opportunity to play for Atlético Madrid, with which she could complement her football practice with her studies.

On 5 July 2016, Atlético Madrid announced that they officially signed Menayo.

Menayo made her debut with Las Rojiblancas on 3 September 2016 when she replaced Silvia Meseguer in the 85th minute of the first league match against Rayo Vallecano, which ended with an 2-0 Atlético victory.

On 7 May 2017, she scored her first goal with Atleti, in the league game that her club beat Granadilla by 3-0.

That season, she played 21 league games, contributing to the club's first Primera División championship after its refoundation.

According to Menayo, the key to success was being united as a group and regularity.

She also started in the three matches of the Copa de la Reina, where they were runners-up after being defeated 4-1 by Barcelona.

In the 2017–18 season, manager Ángel Villacampa converted Menayo from left-back to centre-back, accompanying Andrea Pereira in the axis of defense.

She played 26 of the 30 league games, in addition to making her Champions League debut on 4 October 2017 with a 0-3 defeat against Wolfsburg.

Atlético Madrid won the league title again that season and finished runner-up in the Copa de la Reina.

In the 2018-19 season, Villacampa was replaced by José Luis Sánchez Vera who reverted Menayo's position to left-back.

She played 26 of the 30 League games, in addition to playing the 4 Champions League games and the 3 Copa de la Reina games as a starter.

On matchday 13, she scored a goal for the squad from outside the area against Espanyol.

On 7 March 2019, she was selected among the five finalists in her position for the Fútbol Draft award.

On 5 May, Menayo won her third league championship, giving an assist to Ángela Sosa.

She played in the final of the Copa de la Reina tournament in which Atlético lost to Real Sociedad.

Menayo began the 2019–20 season sharing minutes with newcomer Kylie Strom, but after the resignation of José Luis Sánchez Vera and the arrival of Pablo López in October, she became the undisputed starter.

She was named player of the day 12 by the newspaper Marca and by the sponsor of the tournament, Iberdrola.

She was also chosen as the best player of the first round by popular vote.

She played 18 league games and gave 4 assists before the season was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic and Atleti was runner-up in the league.

She played in the semifinal of the Supercopa in which they were defeated by Barcelona and the round of 16 match of the Copa de la Reina against Betis in which the Sevillanas went through after winning the penalty shootout.

In the Champions League, she played four of the five games the team played until they lost in the quarterfinals against Barcelona.

In the 2020-21 preseason, Menayo injured her ACL.

In December she was named the team's third captain, a captaincy that she held until the beginning of the following season.

She returned to the pitch in May 2021 That year, Atlético Madrid had finished in fourth place in the league standings in which they won the Supercopa, a first for Menayo.

In the 2021-22 season, Menayo was one of the most used players, especially since Amanda Frisbie's injury.

On 13 December, she signed a four-year extension until 2025.

In January 2022, the commemorative plaque was installed on the promenade of the club's legends, which certifies having played more than 100 games for Atlético Madrid.

In the 2022-23 season, Menayo was given back the captain's stripes, being the second captain behind Lola Gallardo.

Although she started the season as a starter, she suffered a knee sprain for which she was out due to two months.