Albert Celades
Celades with the New York Red Bulls in 2009
Personal information
Full name Albert Celades López[1]
Date of birth (1975-09-29) 29 September 1975 (age 48)[1]
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s) Defensive midfielder
Youth career
1990–1994 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1995 Barcelona B 14 (3)
1995–1999 Barcelona 72 (4)
1999–2000 Celta 24 (1)
2000–2005 Real Madrid 56 (1)
2003–2004 → Bordeaux (loan) 27 (3)
2005–2008 Zaragoza 71 (2)
2009 New York Red Bulls 17 (1)
2010 Kitchee 0 (0)
Total 281 (15)
International career
1991–1992 Spain U16 2 (0)
1992 Spain U17 3 (0)
1993–1994 Spain U18 8 (1)
1996–1998 Spain U21 8 (1)
1998–2000 Spain 4 (0)
1998–2005 Catalonia 7 (1)
Managerial career
2013–2014 Spain U16
2014–2018 Spain U21
2017 Spain U17
2018 Spain (assistant)
2018 Real Madrid (assistant)
2019–2020 Valencia
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Spain (as manager)
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up 2017
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Albert Celades López (born 29 September 1975) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, currently a manager.

A tactically astute player with a strong defensive mentality, he was best known for his stints with Barcelona and Real Madrid,[2] and he amassed La Liga total of 223 matches and eight goals over 12 seasons, totalling ten major titles with the clubs.

Celades appeared with the Spain national team at the 1998 World Cup.

Playing career

Club

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Celades – who left Barcelona at age seven with his family to live in Andorra[3]– was a product of FC Barcelona's youth system. He made his debut with the main squad during 1995–96, and finished his first professional season with 16 games and two goals as the Catalans finished third in La Liga. Nevertheless, he would still spend another full campaign with the reserves.

Celades played 36 matches in 1997–98, mostly as a sweeper,[4][5] as the Louis van Gaal-led team conquered the national title after a three-year drought. He also started both legs of the 1997 UEFA Super Cup, helping to a 3–1 aggregate victory over Borussia Dortmund, but appeared less significantly in the following season, with Barça renewing their domestic supremacy.

After a year with RC Celta de Vigo, Celades moved to Real Madrid, against which he had scored the winner (1–0) in the previous campaign, on 28 November 1999.[6] He featured sparingly over four seasons, but added two league trophies and the 2001–02 UEFA Champions League to his résumé. He also spent 2003–04 on loan to Ligue 1 side FC Girondins de Bordeaux.[7]

From 2005 to 2008, Celades represented Real Zaragoza.[8] In his first year he helped the club reach the Copa del Rey final, and would be relatively used during his tenure as the Aragonese were relegated at the end of 2007–08, and the player was released after his contract expired. In February 2009, he went on trial with the New York Red Bulls in the Major League Soccer[9] and, after impressing, signed in March.[10]

Celades retired from competitive football on 24 October 2009, immediately following the conclusion of the season.[11] In early 2010, however, Kitchee SC from Hong Kong signed him alongside compatriot Agustín Aranzábal; they both appeared with the team at the 2010 Lunar New Year Cup, a mid-season exhibition tournament.[12]

International

Celades played four times for Spain, and was a participant at the 1998 FIFA World Cup with two substitute appearances against Nigeria[13] and Paraguay[14] in an eventual group-stage exit. His debut was on 3 June of that year, in a 4–1 friendly defeat of Northern Ireland in Santander where he started and played the entire game.[15]

Celades' last match consisted of 30 minutes in a 2–1 away victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 2002 World Cup qualifiers. He also represented the non-FIFA Catalonia side, scoring on his debut in a 5–0 defeat of Nigeria on 22 December 1998.[16]

Coaching career

On 7 May 2014, after Julen Lopetegui left for FC Porto, Celades was named manager of the Spanish under-21s after leaving the under-16 team.[17][18][19] In October, the former lost their play-off against Serbia for entrance to the 2015 UEFA European Championship, in which they would have been defending champions; the 1–2 second leg loss in Cádiz was their first in 35 games.[20]

On 18 July 2018, Celades resigned from his position at the Royal Spanish Football Federation after five years managing the youth sides, also having acted as assistant to the seniors during the 2014 and 2018 World Cups and UEFA Euro 2016.[21][22][23][24][25] On 3 August he was appointed as assistant coach of Real Madrid, reuniting with Lopetegui after their period at the Spanish Federation.[26]

On 11 September 2019, Celades became manager of Valencia CF following the dismissal of Marcelino García Toral.[27] His first match in charge took place three days later, in a 5–2 away defeat to his former club Barcelona.[28] The following week, all players refused to accompany him at a press conference ahead of the Champions League fixture against Chelsea, in solidarity with his predecessor.[29]

Celades was relieved of his duties on 29 June 2020, with the team ranked in eighth and six games to go.[30]

Managerial statistics

As of match played 28 June 2020[31]
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team Nat From To Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
Spain U16[17] Spain 1 July 2013 7 May 2014 2 1 0 1 3 4 −1 050.00
Spain U21 Spain 7 May 2014 18 July 2018 34 24 6 4 82 28 +54 070.59
Valencia Spain 11 September 2019 29 June 2020 41 15 12 14 54 64 −10 036.59
Career totals 81 43 19 19 147 98 +49 053.09

Honours

Barcelona

Real Madrid

Zaragoza

References

  1. ^ a b c "Albert CELADES López". El Mundo (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 June 2020.
  2. ^ Hall, Andy (26 October 2004). "Salad days for Celades". UEFA. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  3. ^ "Media day with Albert Celades". Metro Fanatic. 16 March 2009. Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  4. ^ Polo, Eduardo; Poquí, Joan (23 January 1998). "La zaga sufre más, pero encaja menos" [Back-four suffer more, but concede less]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  5. ^ Segura, Manuel; Polo, Eduardo (4 April 1998). ""Me quedo"" ["I'm staying"]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  6. ^ Mínguez, Antonio (29 November 1999). "Celades tumba al Madrid" [Celades downs Madrid]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 13 May 2013.
  7. ^ "Celades bound for Bordeaux". UEFA. 19 August 2003. Retrieved 21 April 2010.
  8. ^ "Celades to settle at Zaragoza". UEFA. 29 August 2005. Retrieved 4 May 2022.
  9. ^ Galarcep, Ives (22 February 2009). "Celades among the Red Bulls new trialists". Soccer By Ives. Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2009.
  10. ^ "Celades jugará en los New York Red Bulls" [Celades will play in the New York Red Bulls]. Marca (in Spanish). 11 March 2009. Retrieved 16 March 2009.
  11. ^ "Red Bulls MF Albert Celades to retire Saturday". USA Today. 23 October 2009. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  12. ^ "Celades jugará con el Kitchee de Hong Kong" [Celades will play with Hong Kong's Kitchee]. Sport (in Spanish). 6 February 2010. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2015.
  13. ^ "Long-suffering Spain stunned by Oliseh sizzler". FIFA. 13 June 1998. Archived from the original on 10 July 2012. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  14. ^ Langdon, Jerry (19 June 1998). "World Cup: Nigeria third to clinch second round". Soccer Times. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2012.
  15. ^ Ros, Cayetano (4 June 1998). "Abundante munición para Francia" [Ammonition aplenty for France]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 May 2014.
  16. ^ Domènech, Joan (23 December 1998). "Catalunya da una exhibición de fútbol y goles ante Nigeria" [Catalonia put on a show of football and goals against Nigeria] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 November 2019.
  17. ^ a b "Celades takes up Spain Under-21 reins". UEFA. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  18. ^ "Albert Celades, nuevo seleccionador sub-21" [Albert Celades, new under-21 manager]. El Confidencial (in Spanish). 7 May 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  19. ^ "OFFICIAL: Albert Celades takes on the U21". Royal Spanish Football Federation. 7 May 2014. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  20. ^ "Holders Spain knocked out of European Under-21 Championship by Serbia". The Guardian. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  21. ^ "Albert Celades se incorpora al cuerpo técnico de la absoluta para el Mundial de Brasil" [Albert Celades added to full side coaching staff for Brazil World Cup] (in Spanish). Europa Press. 10 June 2014. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  22. ^ Martín, Luis (31 May 2016). "Isco y Saúl fuera de la lista de Del Bosque para la Eurocopa 2016" [Isco and Saúl out of Del Bosque's list for 2016 European Championship]. El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  23. ^ "Celades: "La selección es optimista, pero realista, ante el Mundial de Rusia"" [Celades: "The national team is optimistic, but realistic, regarding the Russia World Cup"]. Estadio Deportivo (in Spanish). 28 January 2018. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  24. ^ Calle, Daniel (17 June 2018). "¿Por qué los entrenadores del Mundial llevan un pinganillo en el banquillo?" [Why do World Cup managers wear an earpiece on the bench?]. El Español (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  25. ^ "Albert Celades bids farewell to the RFEF". Royal Spanish Football Federation. 18 July 2018. Archived from the original on 24 September 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  26. ^ "Celades joins Real Madrid as Julen Lopetegui's assistant coach". Real Madrid CF. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 3 August 2018.
  27. ^ "Official statement | Albert Celades". Valencia CF. 11 September 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2019.
  28. ^ "Barcelona 5–2 Valencia: Fati stars as Celades endures miserable first match". beIN Sports. 14 September 2019. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  29. ^ Sims, Andy (16 September 2019). "Chelsea vs Valencia: Albert Celades plays down player unrest after Marcelino exit". Evening Standard. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
  30. ^ Webber, Tom (30 June 2020). "Voro appointed Valencia manager for sixth time after Celades' sacking". Goal. Retrieved 30 June 2020.
  31. ^ Albert Celades coach profile at Soccerway

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Albert Celades.
Spain squad – 1998 FIFA World Cup
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