Alberto de la Bella Madueño (born 2 December 1985) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a left-back.

Alberto de la Bella
De la Bella with Real Sociedad in 2018
Personal information
Full name Alberto de la Bella Madueño[1]
Date of birth (1985-12-02) 2 December 1985 (age 39)[1]
Place of birth Santa Coloma, Spain
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Left-back
Youth career
2003–2004 Gramenet
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2004–2006 Gramenet 28 (0)
2004–2005Espanyol B (loan) 18 (0)
2006–2008 Villarreal B 62 (1)
2008–2009 Sevilla B 28 (1)
2009–2018 Real Sociedad 189 (6)
2016–2017Olympiacos (loan) 20 (2)
2018–2021 Las Palmas 57 (1)
2020–2021Cartagena (loan) 21 (1)
2021–2022 Cartagena 15 (0)
Total 399 (11)
International career
2010–2016 Catalonia 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He spent the majority of his professional career with Real Sociedad, playing 218 competitive games for the club.[2]

Club career

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Born in Santa Coloma de Gramenet, Barcelona, Catalonia, de la Bella started his career at local UDA Gramenet. Other than with this club, he only represented B teams in various parts of the country in four seasons, on loan and after being released (in 2008–09, he played with Sevilla FC's reserves in the Segunda División, being relegated).[3]

In the summer of 2009, de la Bella signed with Real Sociedad in the same level, as a replacement for Athletic Bilbao-bound Xabi Castillo.[4][5] He was also first choice during the league campaign, but achieved La Liga promotion this time, as champions.[6]

De la Bella made his debut in the Spanish top flight on 29 August 2010, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 home win against Villarreal CF.[7] In early May 2014, he renewed his contract with the Txuriurdin until 2018.[8]

De la Bella played second-fiddle to Yuri Berchiche in 2015–16,[9][10] appearing in only 16 competitive games. On 5 July 2016, he was loaned to Olympiacos F.C. for two years.[11] The following 23 April, he scored his only two goals of the season to help his team defeat PAS Giannina F.C. 5–0 and clinch their seventh consecutive Super League Greece title.[12]

On 27 July 2017, after being told he was not part of new manager Besnik Hasi's plans, de la Bella decided to return to Real Sociedad.[13][14] On 27 August 2018, after nine years at the Anoeta, he joined second-tier club UD Las Palmas on a two-year deal with an option for a third.[15]

On 10 September 2020, de la Bella was loaned to fellow second-division side FC Cartagena for the season.[16] Having played over 20 games and avoided relegation, he was rewarded with a permanent contract for the following year.[17]

De la Bella announced his retirement from professional football on 17 May 2022, at the age of 36.[18]

International career

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Uncapped by Spain at any level, de la Bella was first called up to the unofficial Catalonia team in December 2010, for the Catalonia International Trophy against Honduras.[19] He started in the 4–0 win at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys on 28 December.[20]

Honours

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Real Sociedad

Olympiacos

References

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  1. ^ a b c Alberto de la Bella at AS.com (in Spanish)  
  2. ^ Pérez, Eneko (23 March 2020). "Alberto de la Bella: "El que gane la Copa lo va a celebrar mucho, pero el que pierda..."" [Alberto de la Bella: "The Cup winners are going to party hard, but the losers..."]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 August 2022.
  3. ^ "El Sevilla Atlético consuma su descenso a Segunda B" [Sevilla Atlético confirm their relegation to Segunda B]. Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). 26 April 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  4. ^ "La Real negocia la venta de Castillo al Racing para fichar a De la Bella" [Real negotiate transfer of Castillo to Racing to sign De la Bella]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 4 July 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  5. ^ "La Real llega a un acuerdo con De la Bella" [Real reach agreement with De la Bella]. Marca (in Spanish). 13 July 2009. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  6. ^ a b Ramajo, Roberto (13 June 2020). "Diez años de un ascenso clave para la Real" [Tenth anniversary of key promotion for Real]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  7. ^ "Sociedad make winning return". ESPN Soccernet. 29 August 2010. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 7 July 2014.
  8. ^ "De la Bella renueva hasta 2018" [De la Bella renews until 2018] (in Spanish). Real Sociedad. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  9. ^ Hernández, Iñigo (21 January 2016). "Yuri Berchiche, baja de última hora por lesión" [Yuri Berchiche, last-minute casualty due to injury] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  10. ^ "De la Bella: "Voy a darlo todo si tengo la oportunidad de jugar"" [De la Bella: "I am going to give it my all if I have the chance to play"] (in Spanish). Gipuzkoa Gaur. 8 April 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  11. ^ "De la Bella loaned to Olympiacos" (in Spanish). Real Sociedad. 5 July 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
  12. ^ a b "Botía y De La Bella, campeones de liga con Olympiacos" [Botía and De La Bella, league champions with Olympiacos] (in Spanish). Migrantes del Balón. 23 April 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  13. ^ Perperidis, Giorgos (27 July 2017). "Επέστρεψε στη Σοθιεδάδ ο Ντε λα Μπέγια" [De la Bella returned to Sociedad] (in Greek). Sport 24. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  14. ^ "Alberto de la Bella vuelve a la Real" [Alberto de la Bella returns to Real] (in Spanish). Real Sociedad. 27 July 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Alberto De la Bella is UD Las Palmas' latest signing". UD Las Palmas. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 27 August 2018.
  16. ^ "De la Bella, cedido al FC Cartagena" [De la Bella, loaned to FC Cartagena] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 10 September 2020. Retrieved 10 September 2020.
  17. ^ Fernández-Caro, Jorge (28 April 2021). "La salvación tiene premio para De la Bella" [Survival has a reward for De la Bella]. Ideal (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  18. ^ Prian, Álvaro (17 May 2022). "Alberto De la Bella anuncia su retirada del fútbol profesional" [Alberto De la Bella announces his retirement from professional football]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  19. ^ "Catalunya, con De la Bella en la lista, se mide hoy a Honduras" [Catalonia, with De la Bella in the squad, measure up today against Honduras]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 28 December 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
  20. ^ "Cataluña sonroja a Honduras con un doblete de Bojan" [Catalonia make Honduras blush with a brace from Bojan]. 20 minutos (in Spanish). 28 December 2010. Retrieved 26 September 2021.
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