Álex_Baena
Álex Baena
Spanish footballer (born 2001)
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.
 Baena with Spain U19 in 2019 | ||||||||||||||
| Personal information | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alejandro Baena Rodríguez | |||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (2001-07-20) 20 July 2001 (age 22) | |||||||||||||
| 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) | |||||||||||
| 2019 | Villarreal C | 1 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2019–2021 | Villarreal B | 23 | (0) | |||||||||||
| 2020– | Villarreal | 69 | (8) | |||||||||||
| 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) | |||||||||||
| 2023– | Spain | 2 | (1) | |||||||||||
Medal record
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 March 2024 (UTC) | ||||||||||||||
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]
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.[citation needed]
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.[10] Baena went on to score his first goal for Spain on his debut against Cyprus in a 6–0 win.
Club
- As of match played 1 April 2024[11]
| 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[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | — | 20 | 2 | ||
| 2022–23 | La Liga | 35 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 9[lower-alpha 2] | 4 | — | 48 | 12 | ||
| 2023–24 | La Liga | 27 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 8[lower-alpha 1] | 2 | — | 38 | 5 | ||
| Total | 69 | 8 | 13 | 3 | 26 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 108 | 19 | ||
| Girona (loan) | 2021–22 | Segunda División | 38 | 5 | 3 | 0 | — | 4[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | 45 | 5 | |
| Career total | 131 | 13 | 16 | 3 | 26 | 8 | 4 | 0 | 177 | 24 | ||
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
- Appearances in La Liga play-offs
International
- As of match played 22 March 2024
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Spain | 2023 | 1 | 1 |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 2 | 1 | |
- As of match played 12 September 2023
- Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Merino goal
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 September 2023 | Nuevo Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain | 1 |  Cyprus | 6–0 | 6–0 | UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying |
Villarreal
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "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.
- "Villarreal 4–0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv". UEFA.com. 5 November 2020. Archived from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- "The Villarreal of the future". Villarreal CF. 12 November 2020. Archived from the original on 11 January 2021. Retrieved 28 December 2020.
- "Álex Baena, loaned to Girona FC". Villarreal CF. 19 August 2021. Archived from the original on 14 August 2022. Retrieved 19 August 2021.
- "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.
- "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.
- Álex Baena at BDFutbol
- "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.
- Profile at the Villarreal CF website
- Álex Baena at BDFutbol
- Álex Baena at Soccerway
- Álex Baena – UEFA competition record (archive)
