Alejandro Catena Marugán (born 28 October 1994) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for La Liga club

Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

Career

Early career

Catena was born in Móstoles,

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

, and represented

CD Móstoles URJC Club Deportivo Móstoles URJC, formerly CDE El Soto and CD Juventud Móstoles, is a Spanish football team based in Móstoles, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1996, it plays in Segunda División RFEF - Group 1, holding home gam ...

as a youth. He made his first-team debut during the 2012–13 season, achieving promotion to

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

. On 28 July 2016, Catena signed for

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

side

CDA Navalcarnero Club Deportivo Artístico Navalcarnero is a football team based in Navalcarnero, in the autonomous community of Madrid, Spain. Founded in 1961, it plays in Segunda Federación – Group 1, holding home games at the 2,500-seat ''Estadio Mariano Go ...

. The following 28 June, he moved to fellow league team

Marbella FC Marbella Fútbol Club, formerly known as Unión Deportiva Marbella, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Marbella, the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 1997 it currently plays in Tercera Federación, Te ...

Reus

On 25 June 2018, Catena agreed to a three-year deal for

CF Reus Deportiu Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Reus, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it last competed in the Segunda Division (while its B team competed in the Tercera Division) before foldi ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commercially known as LaLiga SmartBank for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spanish football league system. Administrated by the Lig ...

. He made his professional debut on 19 August, starting in a 2–0 away loss against

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Las Palmas, on the island of Gran Canaria in the autonomous community of Canary Islands. Founded on 22 August 1949, it plays in Segunda División, holding home games at the ...

. Catena scored his first professional goal on 21 October 2018, netting the equalizer in a 2–1 home defeat of

CF Rayo Majadahonda Club de Fútbol Rayo Majadahonda () is a Spanish football team based in Majadahonda, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1976 it plays in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at ''Estadio Cerro del Espino'', with ...

. The following January, he terminated his contract with the Catalans due to the club's poor financial situation overall.

Rayo Vallecano

On 31 January 2019,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Catena signed a 18-month deal with

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

side Rayo Vallecano. He made his debut in the category on 12 May, starting in a 2–1 home loss to

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid () or Valladolid, is a professional football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain that competes in La Liga, the top tier of the Spanish league system. The club colo ...

, as his club was already relegated. On 16 January 2020, after establishing himself as a starter, Catena renewed with Rayo until 2023. He scored three goals in 46 appearances overall during the 2020–21 campaign, as the club returned to the top tier. Catena scored his first goal in the main category of Spanish football on 18 December 2021, netting his team's second in a 2–0 home win over

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually abbreviated to Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the ...

Osasuna

On 9 June 2023, fellow first division side CA Osasuna reached an agreement with Catena for a five-year contract, at the conclusion of his Rayo deal. Prior to making a competitive appearance for his new side, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

against local rivals

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, S.A.D., more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad (; ''Royal Society''), La Real in Spanish, Erreala in Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Basque Country, founded on 7 Septem ...

(all from headers) in the pre-season Euskal Herriko Txapela match.Real Sociedad 1 - Osasuna 3, resumen, vídeo y goles: la txapela es para Catena
eal Sociedad 1 - Osasuna 3, summary, video and goals: the txapela is for Catena Javier Elizalde, Noticias de Navarra, 21 July 2023 (in Spanish)

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Catena, Alejandro 1994 births Living people Spanish men's footballers People from Móstoles Footballers from the Community of Madrid Men's association football central defenders La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players CD Móstoles URJC players CDA Navalcarnero players Marbella FC players CF Reus Deportiu players Rayo Vallecano players CA Osasuna players