Asier Villalibre
Villalibre celebrating Alavés' promotion in 2023
Personal information
Full name Asier Villalibre Molina
Date of birth (1997-09-30) 30 September 1997[1]
Place of birth Guernica, Spain[1]
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Striker
Team information
Current team
 Athletic Bilbao
Number 20
Youth career
2011–2014 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Basconia 45 (26)
2015–2019 Bilbao Athletic 99 (37)
2016– Athletic Bilbao 87 (10)
2017 → Numancia (loan) 6 (0)
2017–2018 → Valladolid (loan) 13 (0)
2018 → Lorca (loan) 12 (0)
2023 → Alavés (loan) 16 (4)
International career‡
2013–2014 Spain U17 9 (2)
2014–2015 Spain U18 3 (1)
2015 Spain U19 1 (0)
2019– Basque Country 2 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:40, 26 September 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:42, 17 November 2020 (UTC)

Asier Villalibre Molina (born 30 September 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Athletic Bilbao.

Club career

Villalibre in 2012

Born in Guernica, Biscay, Basque Country, Villalibre joined Athletic Bilbao's youth setup in 2011. He made his debut as a senior with the farm team in the 2013–14 season, scoring on his Tercera División debut at the age of 15.[2]

In May 2015, after a further 20 goals for the third side, Villalibre was promoted to the reserves in the Segunda División – he had already represented them the previous campaign in the Segunda División B.[3] He made his professional debut on 24 August, coming on as a second-half substitute for Gorka Santamaría in a 1–0 home loss against Girona FC.[4]

Villalibre scored his first professional goal for Bilbao Athletic on 6 September 2015, closing the 3–1 home win over RCD Mallorca.[5] At 17 years and 341 days, this made him the second-youngest goalscorer for the team when competing in the second division (behind Ander Garitano's 17 years and 198 days in 1986).[6]

On 3 December 2016, Villalibre was called up to the first team for the Basque derby against SD Eibar, with habitual first-choice Aritz Aduriz suspended after being sent off in the previous league match.[7] He made his La Liga debut the following day, replacing Iñaki Williams after 84 minutes and providing the assist for Iker Muniain to score the final goal of a 3–1 victory in injury time.[8]

Villalibre appeared in his first game in European competition on 8 December 2016, contributing another decisive pass in a 1–1 draw away to SK Rapid Wien in the UEFA Europa League group stage after once again coming on from the bench.[9] He was loaned out to CD Numancia on 2 May of the following year, for one month.[10]

On 20 August 2017, Villalibre was loaned to second-tier club Real Valladolid for one year.[11] After only netting twice in the cup, his loan was terminated and he subsequently moved to Lorca FC of the same league also in a temporary deal.[12]

Villalibre scored his first league goal for Athletic on 25 January 2020, playing 84 minutes in the 1–1 away draw with RCD Espanyol.[13] The following 17 January, his last-minute equaliser against FC Barcelona earned extra time and an eventual 3–2 win in the 2020–21 Supercopa de España final; he was also the target of an aggression that earned Lionel Messi the first club red card of his career.[14]

After totalling 35 games and four goals in 2020–21, Villalibre fell down the pecking order the following years,[15] and was loaned to Deportivo Alavés on 30 January 2023.[16] He scored twice during the second-division play-offs to help the club to gain promotion, starting with a 2–0 victory over Eibar;[17] in the second leg of the final at Levante UD, his penalty deep into injury time of extra time was the tie's only goal.[18]

International career

Villalibre made his debut for the unofficial Basque Country national team in May 2019, in a 0–0 draw away to Panama for which a small, youthful and inexperienced squad was selected.[19][20]

Career statistics

As of match played 22 May 2022[21][22][23]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Basconia 2013–14 Tercera División 116———116
2014–15 3420———3420
Total 45260000004526
Bilbao Athletic 2014–15 Segunda División B 20——2[lower-alpha 1]040
2015–16 Segunda División 323———323
2016–17 Segunda División B 2711———2711
2018–19 3823———3823
Total 993700002010137
Athletic Bilbao 2016–17 La Liga 60002[lower-alpha 2]0—80
2019–20 1935[lower-alpha 3]2——245
2020–21 35461—2[lower-alpha 4]1436
2021–22 19210—00202
Total 79912320219513
Numancia (loan) 2016–17 Segunda División 6000——60
Valladolid (loan) 2017–18 Segunda División 13042——172
Lorca (loan) 2017–18 Segunda División 12000——120
Career total 25472165204127688
  1. ↑ Appearance(s) in Segunda División B play-offs
  2. ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  3. ↑ Includes appearance in 2020 Copa del Rey Final (played in 2021)
  4. ↑ Appearance(s) in Supercopa de España

Honours

Athletic Bilbao

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Asier Villalibre". Eurosport. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  2. ↑ Martín, Javi (10 September 2015). "Villalibre: El debut soñado con 15 años" [Villalibre: A dream debut at 15 years] (in Spanish). La Cantera de Lezama. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  3. ↑ F. Mangana, David (9 May 2015). "Asier Villalibre, un nuevo cachorro en el Bilbao Athletic" [Asier Villalibre, a new pup at Bilbao Athletic] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  4. ↑ García-Muñoz, Sergio (24 August 2015). "El que la sigue, la consigue" [He who wants it, gets it]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  5. ↑ "El filial remonta al Mallorca y suma sus tres primeros puntos" [The reserves complete a comeback over Mallorca and get their first points]. Marca (in Spanish). 6 September 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  6. ↑ Martín, Javi (7 September 2015). "Asier Villalibre: segundo goleador más jóven de la historia del Bilbao Athletic en 2ª División" [Asier Villalibre: second-youngest goalscorer of Bilbao Athletic's history in 2nd Division] (in Spanish). La Cantera de Lezama. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  7. ↑ San Cristóbal, Einara (3 December 2016). "Villalibre se estrena en convocatoria ante el Eibar" [Villalibre gets first selection against Eibar]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  8. ↑ Callero, Borja Luis (4 December 2016). "Un león a la carrera por Europa" [A lion runs loose in Europe]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  9. ↑ "La semana soñada de Villalibre" [Villalibre's dream week]. El Correo (in Spanish). 9 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  10. ↑ "Asier Villalibre, nuevo jugador del C. D. Numancia" [Asier Villalibre, new player of C.D. Numancia] (in Spanish). CD Numancia. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  11. ↑ "Villalibre fortalece el ataque" [Villalibre strengthens the attack] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  12. ↑ "Asier Villalibre on-loan". Athletic Bilbao. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  13. ↑ García, Miguel Ángel (25 January 2020). "Con RDT hay esperanza" [There's hope with RDT]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  14. ↑ Carnerero, Fernando (17 January 2021). "La Supercopa de Williams" [Williams' Supercup]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  15. ↑ Ugalde, Iñaki (19 August 2022). "Villalibre solo ha completado 4 de sus 80 partidos de Liga con el Athletic" [Villalibre has only completed 4 of his 80 League matches with Athletic]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  16. ↑ "Villalibre jugará cedido en el Deportivo Alavés" [Villalibre will play on loan at Deportivo Alavés] (in Spanish). Athletic Bilbao. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  17. ↑ "El Alavés se agarra a Mendizorroza para meterse en la final" [Alavés hold on to Mendizorroza to reach final] (in Spanish). Relevo. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  18. ↑ Portillo Maya, Sara (17 June 2023). "Levante 0–1 Alavés: Un gol de penalti en los últimos compases decide el ascenso" [Levante 0–1 Alavés: Penalty goal in dying breath decides promotion]. Estadio Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  19. ↑ Lekuona, Javier (30 May 2019). "Empate sin goles de la Euskal Selekzioa ante Panamá" [Basque Selection goalless draw against Panama]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  20. ↑ "Empate entre la Euskal Selekzioa y Panamá (0–0)" [Draw between Basque Selection and Panama (0–0)] (in Spanish). EITB. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  21. ↑ Asier Villalibre at Athletic Bilbao
  22. ↑ Asier Villalibre at Soccerway
  23. ↑ Asier Villalibre at FBref.com
  24. ↑ "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. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  25. ↑ Lowe, Sid (3 April 2021). "Real Sociedad beat Athletic to claim Copa del Rey and Basque glory". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  26. ↑ 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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