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Álex Baena

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Baena and the second or maternal family name is Rodríguez.

Alejandro "Álex" Baena Rodríguez (born 20 July 2001) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left winger or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Villarreal and the Spain national team.

Álex Baena
Baena with Spain U19 in 2019
Personal information
Full name Alejandro Baena Rodríguez
Date of birth (2001-07-20) 20 July 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth Roquetas de Mar, Spain
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, left winger
Team information
Current team
 Villarreal
Number 16
Youth career
2007–2011 Roquetas
2011–2019 Villarreal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020– Villarreal 88 (10)
2021–2022 → Girona (loan) 38 (5)
International career‡
2017 Spain U16 3 (2)
2017–2018 Spain U17 11 (3)
2018–2019 Spain U18 10 (3)
2019–2020 Spain U19 7 (0)
2019 Spain U20 5 (1)
2022–2023 Spain U21 12 (2)
2024 Spain U23 5 (2)
2023– Spain 8 (2)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Spain
UEFA European Championship
Winner 2024 Germany Team
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2024 Paris Team
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up 2023 Georgia–Romania Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 November 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 15 November 2024 (UTC)

Club career

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Baena was born in Roquetas de Mar, Almería, Andalusia, and joined Villarreal CF's youth setup in 2011, from CD Roquetas.[1][2] He made his senior debut with the C-team on 21 December 2018, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 Tercera División home win against UD Rayo Ibense.[3]

Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Baena was assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B, and made his debut for the side on 14 September 2019 by starting in a 3–0 win at UE Llagostera.[4] On 13 July of the following year, he made his first team – and La Liga – debut, replacing fellow youth graduate Manu Trigueros in a 1–2 home loss against Real Sociedad.[5]

Baena scored his first professional goal on 5 November 2020, netting his team's third in a 4–0 UEFA Europa League home routing of Maccabi Tel Aviv FC.[6] Seven days later, he renewed his contract until 2025.[7]

On 19 August 2021, Baena moved to Segunda División side Girona FC on a one-year loan deal.[8] He returned to the Yellow Submarine after being a starter in the Catalans' promotion, and scored a brace in a 3–0 away win over Real Valladolid on 13 August 2022.

On 26 August 2022, Baena and teammate Nicolas Jackson were fully promoted to the main squad.[9] In the 2023–24 season, he became the top assist provider in La Liga with 14 assists.[10]

International career

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Baena represented Spain at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels, appearing in the 2018 UEFA European Under-17 Championship.[11]

In August 2023, Baena received his first call-up to the Spain senior national team by head coach Luis de la Fuente, for two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying matches against Georgia and Cyprus.[12] Baena went on to score his first goal for Spain on his debut against Cyprus in a 6–0 win.[13] In May 2024, he was named in the 26-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2024.[14]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 24 November 2024[15]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Copa del Rey Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Villarreal C 2019–20 Tercera División 1 0 — — — 1 0
Villarreal B 2019–20 Segunda División B 23 0 — — — 23 0
2020–21 Segunda División B 0 0 — — — 0 0
Total 23 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 23 0
Villarreal 2019–20 La Liga 1 0 1 0 — — 2 0
2020–21 La Liga 6 0 5 0 9[a] 2 — 20 2
2022–23 La Liga 35 6 4 2 9[b] 4 — 48 12
2023–24 La Liga 34 2 3 1 8[a] 2 — 45 5
2024–25 La Liga 12 2 1 0 — — 13 2
Total 88 10 14 3 26 8 0 0 128 21
Girona (loan) 2021–22 Segunda División 38 5 3 0 — 4[c] 0 45 5
Career total 150 15 17 3 26 8 4 0 197 26
  1. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  3. ^ Appearances in Segunda División promotion play-offs

International

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As of match played 15 November 2024[16]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Spain 2023 1 1
2024 7 1
Total 8 2
As of match played 15 November 2024
Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Baena goal.[16]
List of international goals scored by Álex Baena
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 12 September 2023 Nuevo Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain 1   Cyprus 5–0 6–0 UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
2 15 October 2024 Estadio Nuevo Arcángel, Córdoba, Spain 7   Serbia 3–0 3–0 2024–25 UEFA Nations League A

Honours

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Villarreal

Spain U23

Spain

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Álex Baena, la 'perla' que brilla en el filial" [Álex Baena, the 'pearl' who shines in the reserves] (in Spanish). El Periódico Mediterráneo. 3 October 2019. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  2. ^ "Álex Baena, jugador roquetero del Villarreal, ha sido convocado por la selección española sub16" [Álex Baena, Roquetas-born Villarreal player, was called up to the Spain national under-16 team] (in Spanish). Roquetas de Mar. 26 September 2016. Archived from the original on 2 November 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  3. ^ "Un eléctrico Villarreal C congela al Rayo Ibense" [An electric Villarreal C freeze Rayo Ibense] (in Spanish). Golsmedia. 21 December 2018. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  4. ^ "El Villarreal CF B golea en Llagostera y sigue líder" [Villarreal CF B thrash in Llagostera and remain leader] (in Spanish). Golsmedia. 14 September 2019. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  5. ^ "La Real Sociedad despierta a tiempo y se mete en la pelea por Europa" [Real Sociedad wake up right on time and get inside the fight for Europa] (in Spanish). Marca. 13 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Villarreal 4–0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv". UEFA.com. 5 November 2020. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  7. ^ "The Villarreal of the future". Villarreal CF. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
  8. ^ "Álex Baena, loaned to Girona FC". Villarreal CF. 19 August 2021. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Baena and Jackson officially become first-team players". Villarreal CF. 26 August 2022. Archived from the original on 26 August 2022. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
  10. ^ a b "LaLiga EA Sports: Goal assist". as.com. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Estos son los 20 convocados para la Eurocopa Sub-17". sefutbol.com (in Spanish). 23 April 2018. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  12. ^ "Lista de convocados para los partidos contra Georgia y Chipre" [Squad list for matches against Georgia and Cyprus]. rfef.es (in European Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  13. ^ "The dream debut of Álex Baena". Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  14. ^ UEFA.com. "Spain | Squad | UEFA EURO 2024". UEFA.com. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  15. ^ Álex Baena at BDFutbol
  16. ^ a b "Álex Baena". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  17. ^ "Who is Alex Baena? Arsenal and Liverpool target set for Premier League transfer battle". Mirror. 26 September 2022. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  18. ^ Ronay, Barney (9 August 2024). "Camello's extra-time double clinches football gold for Spain against France". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Spain 2-1 England | UEFA EURO 2024 Final". UEFA.com. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
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