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Mikel Balenziaga

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In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Balenziaga and the second or maternal family name is Oruesagasti.
Mikel Balenziaga
Balenziaga in 2017
Personal information
Full name Mikel Balenziaga Oruesagasti[1]
Date of birth (1988-02-29) 29 February 1988 (age 36)[2]
Place of birth Zumarraga, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Left-back
Youth career
Real Sociedad
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2006–2008 Real Sociedad B 53 (0)
2008–2011 Athletic Bilbao 25 (0)
2009–2010 → Numancia (loan) 26 (0)
2011–2013 Valladolid 68 (0)
2013–2023 Athletic Bilbao 221 (1)
2023–2024 Deportivo La Coruña 32 (1)
International career
2007 Spain U19 5 (0)
2008 Spain U21 1 (0)
2012–2020 Basque Country 7 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 03:44, 13 May 2024 (UTC)

Mikel Balenziaga Oruesagasti (Basque: [mikel balens̻iaɣa]; Spanish: [ˈmikel βalenˈθjaɣa];[α] born 29 February 1988) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left-back.

He spent the better part of his career with Athletic Bilbao, totalling 321 appearances and winning two Supercopa de España.[3]

Club career

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Athletic Bilbao

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Born in Zumarraga, Gipuzkoa, Balenziaga started his football grooming at Real Sociedad, playing two full seasons with their B team in the Segunda División B. However, in 2008–09, he switched to neighbours Athletic Bilbao.[4]

Initially thought of as a member of the reserves, Balenziaga quickly beat competition from veterans Koikili and Javier Casas to become the undisputed first choice for the vast majority of the campaign, making his first-team debut on 14 September 2008 in a 0–0 away draw against Málaga CF; another club graduate, Ander Iturraspe, also made his first La Liga appearance in that game.[5]

In July 2009, Athletic bought Xabi Castillo from neighbours Real Sociedad and Balenziaga, seeing his chances for the upcoming season dim, accepted a loan move to CD Numancia, recently relegated from the top division.[6] He transferred to Segunda División side Real Valladolid on a three-year contract in the summer of 2011, after making only one official appearance for the Lions during 2010–11's top tier.[7]

Balenziaga (right, with Lionel Messi) playing for Athletic at Camp Nou in Barcelona, 2014

After two solid years in Castile and León – Valladolid were promoted in 2011–12 via the play-offs and comfortably survived in the top flight the following campaign[8]– Balenziaga returned to Athletic for 2013–14 to challenge for a first-team spot under new manager Ernesto Valverde.[9] He scored his first ever goal as a professional on 24 September 2016, helping the hosts to defeat Sevilla FC 3–1 in the domestic league.[10]

Balenziaga left the San Mamés Stadium at the end of his contract in 2023, aged 35, having played more than 300 times for the club across his two spells (a farewell ceremony after the last home fixture of the season was somewhat spoiled by the match result, a late defeat to already-relegated Elche CF which badly weakened their European qualification chances).[11]

Deportivo

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On 10 July 2023, Balenziaga signed a contract with Deportivo de La Coruña.[12] On 10 December, he scored a rare goal to equalise a 1–1 home draw against Sestao River Club in the Primera Federación.[13]

International career

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Balenziaga appeared once for the Spain under-21 team, playing 58 minutes in a 4–1 friendly away loss to Portugal on 18 November 2008.[14] He also featured for the unofficial Basque Country regional side.[15]

Career statistics

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As of 1 July 2023[16][17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Real Sociedad B 2006–07 Segunda División B 17 0 – – – 17 0
2007–08 36 0 – – – 36 0
Total 53 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 53 0
Athletic Bilbao 2008–09 La Liga 24 0 2 0 – – 26 0
2010–11 1 0 0 0 – – 1 0
Total 25 0 2 0 0 0 0 0 27 0
Numancia (loan) 2009–10 Segunda División 26 0 0 0 – – 26 0
Valladolid 2011–12 Segunda División 36 0 1 0 – 4[a] 0 41 0
2012–13 La Liga 32 0 2 0 – – 34 0
Total 68 0 3 0 0 0 4 0 75 0
Athletic Bilbao 2013–14 La Liga 31 0 6 0 – – 37 0
2014–15 33 0 7 0 8[b] 0 – 48 0
2015–16 34 0 4 0 11[c] 0 2[d] 0 51 0
2016–17 33 1 3 0 7[c] 0 – 43 1
2017–18 18 0 0 0 10[c] 0 – 28 0
2018–19 11 0 2 0 – – 13 0
2019–20 9 0 2 0 – – 11 0
2020–21 23 0 3 0 – 2[d] 0 28 0
2021–22 26 0 3 0 – 2[d] 0 31 0
2022–23 3 0 1 0 – – 4 0
Total 221 1 31 0 36 0 6 0 294 1
Career total 403 1 36 0 36 0 10 0 485 1
  1. ^ Appearances in La Liga play-offs
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ a b c Appearances in Supercopa de España

Honours

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Athletic Bilbao

Notes

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  1. ^ In isolation, Balenziaga is pronounced [balenˈθjaɣa].

References

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  1. ^ a b "Mikel Balenziaga". Athletic Bilbao. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  2. ^ "Mikel Balenziaga". Eurosport. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  3. ^ Velasco, Juanma (20 April 2023). "Mikel Balenziaga pone el broche a su carrera en el Athletic" [Mikel Balenziaga puts icing on cake to his Athletic career]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 June 2023.
  4. ^ "Los otros realistas que acabaron en el Athletic" [The other realistas who ended up at Athletic]. El Correo (in Spanish). 2 July 2015. Retrieved 16 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Málaga CF 0-Athletic Club 0: First Point". Athletic Bilbao. 14 September 2008. Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 15 December 2008.
  6. ^ Ortiz de Lazcano, Javier (11 August 2009). "Balenziaga se va cedido al Numancia y Murillo, al Salamanca" [Balenziaga goes on loan to Numancia and Murillo, to Salamanca]. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  7. ^ "Mikel Balenziaga ficha por el Real Valladolid por tres temporadas" [Mikel Balenziaga signs with Real Valladolid for three seasons]. Marca (in Spanish). 4 August 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2017.
  8. ^ Encinas, Mikel (15 March 2013). "Balenziaga: el eslabón perdido" [Balenziaga: the missing link]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  9. ^ Atkinson, Tre (28 June 2013). "Mikel Balenziaga returns to Athletic Bilbao". Inside Spanish Football. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 16 August 2013.
  10. ^ Campos, Tomás (24 September 2016). "Balenziaga prolonga la fiesta en San Mamés" [Balenziaga extends party at San Mamés]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  11. ^ "San Mames bids farewell to Mikel Balenziaga". Athletic Bilbao. 29 May 2023. Retrieved 1 July 2023.
  12. ^ Zaballa, Carlos (10 July 2023). "Balenziaga ficha por el Deportivo" [Balenziaga signs for Deportivo]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  13. ^ Barreiros, Pedro (10 December 2023). "Mísero empate del Dépor frente al Sestao (1–1)" [Miserable Dépor draw against Sestao (1–1)]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 December 2023.
  14. ^ "Selecção de sub-21 vence Espanha por 4–1 em particular" [Under-21 national team beat Spain 4–1 in friendly] (in Portuguese). TSF. 18 November 2008. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
  15. ^ "Catalunya 0–1 Euskal Selekzioa" [Catalonia 0–1 Basque XI] (in Spanish). Basque Football Federation. 26 December 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  16. ^ Mikel Balenziaga at Soccerway Edit this at Wikidata
  17. ^ Mikel Balenziaga at ESPN FC
  18. ^ "Acta del partido celebrado el 14 de agosto de 2015, en Bilbao" [Minutes of the match held on 14 August 2015, in Bilbao] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
    "Acta del partido celebrado el 17 de agosto de 2015, en Barcelona" [Minutes of the match held on 17 August 2015, in Barcelona] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  19. ^ "Acta del partido celebrado el 17 de enero de 2021, en Sevilla" [Minutes of the match held on 17 January 2021, in Seville] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  20. ^ "Lionel Messi stars as Barcelona win Copa Del Rey final against Athletic Bilbao". Eurosport. 30 May 2015. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  21. ^ Lowe, Sid (3 April 2021). "Real Sociedad beat Athletic to claim Copa del Rey and Basque glory". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  22. ^ Lowe, Sid (17 April 2021). "Messi stars as Barcelona thrash Athletic Bilbao to lift Copa del Rey". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
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