Álex Baena

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Baena and the second or maternal family name is Rodríguez.
Álex Baena
Baena with Spain U19 in 2019
Personal information
Full name Alejandro Baena Rodríguez
Date of birth (2001-07-20) 20 July 2001
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
 Atlético Madrid
Youth career
2007–2011 Roquetas
2011–2019 Villarreal
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 Villarreal C 1 (0)
2019–2020 Villarreal B 23 (0)
2020–2025 Villarreal 108 (15)
2021–2022 → Girona (loan) 38 (5)
2025– Atlético Madrid 0 (0)
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 10 (2)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Spain
UEFA European Championship
Winner 2024 Germany Team
UEFA Nations League
Runner-up 2025 Germany Team
Olympic Games
2024 Paris Team
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up 2023 Georgia–Romania Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 July 2025
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 March 2025 (UTC)

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 Atlético Madrid and the Spain national team.

Club career

Villarreal

Baena was born in Roquetas de Mar, Almería, Andalusia, and joined Villarreal's youth setup in 2011, from 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 victory against Rayo Ibense.[3]

Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Baena was assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B, debuting as a starter on 14 September 2019 in a 3–0 victory against Llagostera.[4] On 13 July of the following year, he made his first-team league 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 club's third in a 4–0 UEFA Europa League home routing of Maccabi Tel Aviv.[6] Seven days later, he renewed his contract until 2025.[7] On 19 August 2021, Baena moved to Segunda División club Girona on a one-year loan.[8] On 26 August 2022, he 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]

Atlético Madrid

On 2 July 2025, Baena joined Atlético Madrid, signing a five-year-contract.[11]

International career

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.[12]

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.[13] He went on to score his first goal for Spain on his debut against the latter opponent in a 6–0 victory.[14] In May 2024, Baena was named in the 26-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2024.[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 May 2025[16]
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 32 7 1 0 — — 33 7
Total 108 15 14 3 26 8 0 0 148 26
Girona (loan) 2021–22 Segunda División 38 5 3 0 — 4[c] 0 45 5
Career total 170 20 17 3 26 8 4 0 217 31
  1. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  3. ^ Appearances in Segunda División promotion play-offs

International

As of match played 8 June 2025[17]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Spain 2023 1 1
2024 7 1
2025 2 0
Total 10 2
As of match played 23 March 2025
Spain score listed first, score column indicates score after each Baena goal.[17]
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

Villarreal

Spain U23

Spain

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Álex Baena, la 'perla' que brilla en el filial" [Álex Baena, the 'pearl' who shines in the reserves]. El Periódico Mediterráneo (in Spanish). 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]. Golsmedia (in Spanish). 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]. Golsmedia (in Spanish). 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]. Marca (in Spanish). Unidad Editorial. 13 July 2020. Archived from the original on 14 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.
  6. ^ "Villarreal 4–0 Maccabi Tel-Aviv". UEFA. 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". Diario AS. Prisa. 27 May 2024. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
  11. ^ "Welcome, Baena!". Atlético Madrid. 2 July 2025.
  12. ^ "Estos son los 20 convocados para la Eurocopa Sub-17" (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 23 April 2018. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2018.
  13. ^ "Lista de convocados para los partidos contra Georgia y Chipre" [Squad list for matches against Georgia and Cyprus] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  14. ^ Mata, Javier (13 September 2023). "Baena marcó en su debut con la Selección, como Mario Gaspar y Pau Torres". Diario AS (in Spanish). Prisa. Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  15. ^ Hindle, Tom (7 June 2024). "Spain Euro 2024 squad: Who has Luis de la Fuente decided to take to Germany?". Goal (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 June 2025.
  16. ^ Álex Baena at BDFutbol
  17. ^ a b "Álex Baena". EU-Football.info. Retrieved 5 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Who is Alex Baena? Arsenal and Liverpool target set for Premier League transfer battle". The Daily Mirror. 26 September 2022. Archived from the original on 29 January 2023. Retrieved 29 January 2023.
  19. ^ 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.
  20. ^ "Spain 2-1 England". UEFA. 14 July 2024. Retrieved 14 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Portugal vs Spain - UEFA Nations League Final 2025". UEFA.com. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  22. ^ "EA Sports FC 25 La Liga Team of the season 2024-25". La Liga. 24 May 2025. Retrieved 24 May 2025.
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