Mikel Balenziaga Oruesagasti (; ; born 29 February 1988) is a Spanish former 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 lea ...

who played as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

. He spent the better part of his career with

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

, totalling 321 appearances and winning two

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Born in Zumarraga,

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

, Balenziaga started his football grooming at

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

, playing two full seasons with their B team in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

. However, in 2008–09, he switched to neighbours

. Initially thought of as a member of the reserves, Balenziaga quickly beat competition from veterans Koikili and Javier Casas to become the undisputed first choice for the vast majority of the campaign, making his first-team debut on 14 September 2008 in a 0–0 away draw against

Málaga CF Málaga Club de Fútbol (, ''Málaga Football Club''), or simply Málaga, is a club based in Málaga, Andalusia, Spain, who compete in Segunda División, the second tier of the Spanish football league system, Spanish league system, following the ...

; another club graduate,

Ander Iturraspe Ander Iturraspe Derteano (; ; born 8 March 1989) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He spent all but the final season of his career at Athletic Bilbao, appearing in 320 matches in all competitions ...

, also made his first

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

appearance in that game. In July 2009, Athletic bought Xabi Castillo from neighbours Real Sociedad and Balenziaga, seeing his chances for the upcoming season dim, accepted a loan move to

CD Numancia Club Deportivo Numancia de Soria, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club in Soria, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 9 April 1945, it plays in , holding home games at '' Nuevo Estadio Los Pajaritos''. Besides football it ...

, recently relegated from the top division. He transferred to

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

on a three-year contract in the summer of 2011, after making only one official appearance for the ''Lions'' during 2010–11's top tier. After two solid years in

Castile and León Castile and León is an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in northwestern Spain. Castile and León is the largest autonomous community in Spain by area, covering 94,222 km2. It is, however, sparsely populated, with a pop ...

– Valladolid were promoted in 2011–12 via the play-offs and comfortably survived in the top flight the following campaign– Balenziaga returned to Athletic for 2013–14 to challenge for a first-team spot under new manager

Ernesto Valverde Ernesto Valverde Tejedor (born 9 February 1964) is a Spanish football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of La Liga club Athletic Bilbao. Over ten seasons, he amassed La Liga totals of 264 games and 68 ...

. He scored his first ever goal as a professional on 24 September 2016, helping the hosts to defeat

Sevilla FC Sevilla Fútbol Club () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, that competes in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. The club was formed on 25 January ...

3–1 in the domestic league. Balenziaga left the San Mamés Stadium at the end of his contract in 2023, aged 35, having played more than 300 times for the club across his two spells (a farewell ceremony after the last home fixture of the season was somewhat spoiled by the match result, a late defeat to already-relegated

Elche CF Elche Club de Fútbol, S.A.D. () is a Spanish professional football club based in Elche, Province of Alicante, in the Valencian Community, Spain. Founded in 1923, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025–26 season, holding home matches at ...

which badly weakened their European qualification chances).

Deportivo

On 10 July 2023, Balenziaga signed a contract with

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

. On 10 December, he scored a rare goal to equalise a 1–1 home draw against

Sestao River Club Sestao River Club is a Spanish football team based in Sestao, in the autonomous community of Basque Country. Founded in 1996 it plays in , hosting home games at ''Estadio Las Llanas'', with a capacity of 8,905 seats. History ''Sestao River Club ...

in the

Primera Federación The Primera Federación, officially the Primera Federación Versus e-Learning for sponsorship reasons (formerly known as Primera RFEF). is the third tier of the Spanish football league system beginning with the 2021–22 season. It is administe ...

. Balenziaga retired in July 2024.

International career

Balenziaga appeared once for the Spain under-21 team, playing 58 minutes in a 4–1 friendly away loss to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 18 November 2008. He also featured for the unofficial Basque Country regional side.

Career statistics

Honours

Athletic Bilbao *

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

runner-up: 2008–09, 2014–15, 2019–20, 2020–21

Notes

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Balenziaga, Mikel 1988 births Living people People from Zumarraga, Spain 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Gipuzkoa Men's association football fullbacks La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Primera Federación players Real Sociedad B footballers Athletic Bilbao footballers CD Numancia players Real Valladolid players Deportivo de La Coruña players Spain men's youth international footballers Spain men's under-21 international footballers Basque Country men's international footballers