Aitor Larrazábal

Aitor Larrazábal
Personal information
Full name Aitor Larrazábal Bilbao
Date of birth (1971-06-21) 21 June 1971
Place of birth Bilbao, Spain
Height 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1⁄2 in)
Playing position Left back
Club information
Current team
 Barakaldo (coach)
Youth career
1982–1989 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1989–1991 Bilbao Athletic 43 (2)
1990–2004 Athletic Bilbao 390 (39)
Total 433 (41)
National team
1990 Spain U20 1 (0)
1990–1991 Spain U21 4 (0)
1991 Spain U23 3 (0)
Teams managed
2008–2009 Gatika
2009–2011 Lemona
2011–2015 Athletic Bilbao (youth)
2015–2016 Marbella
2016–2017 Amorebieta
2017– Barakaldo
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Aitor Larrazábal Bilbao (born 21 June 1971) is a Spanish retired footballer who played solely for Athletic Bilbao, and the current manager of Barakaldo CF.

A left back of offensive penchant, he appeared in 445 official games for his only club and was also a penalty kick specialist, scoring at least one La Liga goal in 13 of his 14 professional seasons.[1][2]

Club career

Player

Larrazábal was born in Bilbao, Biscay. Having joined Athletic Bilbao's youth ranks at 11, he started playing professionally with its reserves in Segunda División, and made his first-team debut on 2 September 1990 in a 0–1 away loss against CD Tenerife,[3] finishing his first year in La Liga with 18 games.

From then onwards, Larrazábal was an undisputed starter for the Basques, scoring and assisting alike. In the 1997–98 season, as Bilbao finished runner-up, he scored a career-best seven league goals, being instrumental as his team qualified for the subsequent edition of the UEFA Champions League, where he featured, for instance, in both group stage draws against Juventus FC, although they eventually ranked last.

After the emergence of Asier del Horno (another Lezama youth graduate) in the 2002–03 campaign, Larrazábal still featured prominently in his last two seasons combined – 36 matches, three goals – but eventually retired from the game in May 2004 at the age of 33, after a two-decade link with a sole club.[4]

Coach

Larrazábal subsequently became a coach: after starting in amateur football, he joined lowly SD Lemona (Basque Country) from Segunda División B in 2009, leading the side to the sixth position in his first year and narrowly missing out on play-off qualification. After a second season in Lemoa in which the team reached the final of the Copa Federación de España,[5] he returned to Athletic Bilbao to take up a position as sporting director, following the election of former teammate Josu Urrutia as president in July 2011.[6][7] In 2013, a reorganisation of functions at the club saw him take over responsibility for the club's youth system, with José María Amorrortu (the director of football) focussing on the senior team.[8] Larrazábal resigned from the position in summer 2015,[7][9] citing professional differences and a desire to return to mangerial roles.[10]

In April 2016 he became manager of third-tier Marbella FC for a short spell,[11] and although they only collected two points from his three games in charge, it was enough to successfully steer them away from the relegation zone by the end of the season.[12] For the following season he moved back to the Basque Country, taking control of SD Amorebieta, also of Segunda B;[12] the side escaped relegation by a single point. Larrazábal then moved on to coach Barakaldo CF in the same division.[7][13]

Personal life

Larrazábal's son, Gaizka, is also a footballer.[14] A right winger by position, in summer 2017 he joined Athletic Bilbao (assigned to the reserves) from SD Zamudio, having played against the Amorebieta team managed by his father during the preceding season.[15]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Histórico rentable" [Reliable legend] (PDF). Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 24 March 2004. Retrieved 8 April 2017.
  2. ↑ "Iraola es el defensa más goleador de toda la Liga" [Iraola is the defender with the most goals in the entire League] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. 22 November 2011. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  3. ↑ "El Tenerife "rugió" primero" [Tenerife "roared" first]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 3 September 1990. Retrieved 2 June 2015.
  4. ↑ Andresen prolongs Stabæk stay; UEFA.com 21 May 2004
  5. ↑ "Declaraciones de Aitor Larrazabal: «El triunfo nos da prestigio»" [Declarations by Aitor Larrazabal: "Triumph gives us prestige"] (in Spanish). SD Lemona. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  6. ↑ "Marcelo Bielsa ya está en Lezama" [Marcelo Bielsa is already at Lezama] (in Spanish). Marca. 13 July 2011. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  7. 1 2 3 "Aitor Larrazabal, nuevo entrenador del Barakaldo" [Aitor Larrazabal, new manager of Barakaldo] (in Spanish). Deia. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  8. ↑ "Aitor Larrazabal es el nuevo jefe de Lezama" [Aitor Larrazabal is the new chief at Lezama] (in Spanish). Vavel. 30 July 2013. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  9. ↑ "Amorrortu coge fuerza cuando hacía las maletas" [Amorrortu gets stronger just when he was packing]. Marca (in Spanish). 9 June 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  10. ↑ "Larrazabal dimite como director de la cantera del Athletic" [Larrazabal resign's as director of Athletic's academy]. Marca (in Spanish). 17 June 2015. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  11. ↑ "El Marbella FC ficha como entrenador al vasco Aitor Larrazabal" [Marbella FC picks the Basque Aitor Larrazabal as coach] (in Spanish). Marbella 24 Horas. 26 April 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  12. 1 2 "Aitor Larrazabal, nuevo entrenador del Amorebieta" [Aitor Larrazabal, new manager of Amorebieta] (in Spanish). Deia. 15 June 2016. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "Joseba Etxeberria, al Amorebieta y Larrazabal, al Barakaldo" [Joseba Etxeberria to Amorebieta and Larrazabal to Barakaldo] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 5 June 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "Gaizka Larrazabal profile". official website. Athletic Bilbao. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
  15. ↑ "El Athletic se hace con los servicios de Gaizka Larrazabal" [Athletic have secured the services of Gaizka Larrazabal] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 5 April 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
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