Ander Barrenetxea (footballer)

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Ander Barrenetxea
Ander Barrenetxea 2018.jpg
Barrenetxea training with Real Sociedad in 2018
Personal information
Full name Ander Barrenetxea Muguruza [1]
Date of birth (2001-12-27) 27 December 2001 (age 23) [1]
Place of birth San Sebastián, Spain
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) [1]
Position(s) Forward
Left winger
Team information
Current team
 Real Sociedad
Number 7
Youth career
2011–2013 Antiguoko [2] [3]
2013–2018 Real Sociedad [4]
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2018–2019 Real Sociedad C 4 (1)
2019 Real Sociedad B 8 (1)
2018– Real Sociedad 161 (15)
International career‡
2018–2019 Spain U18 6 (1)
2019–2020 Spain U19 5 (0)
2020–2023 Spain U21 13 (1)
Medal record
Representing Flag of Spain.svg  Spain
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up 2023 Georgia–Romania Team
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Winner 2019 Armenia Team
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 24 October 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 8 July 2023

Ander Barrenetxea Muguruza (born 27 December 2001), commonly known mononymously as Barrene, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Real Sociedad as a forward or left winger.

Contents

Club career

Born in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Basque Country, Barrenetxea is a graduate of Real Sociedad's youth setup (he joined the club from Antiguoko in 2013, on the same day as Martín Zubimendi). [4]

In the 2018–19 season, he began to train with the senior team, while registered with the club's C-team playing in the amateur fourth tier. In early December 2018, he renewed his contract until 2025. [5]

On 22 December 2018, Barrenetxea made his professional and La Liga debut as a late substitute for Real Sociedad in a 1–0 home loss against Deportivo Alavés. In so doing, he became the first player born in the 21st century to appear in the competition, [6] [7] the 26th-youngest debutant in the division overall, and the club's youngest since the Spanish Civil War (behind only 15-year-old Pedro Irastorza in 1934). [8] By coincidence, the player who left the field, Juanmi, was even younger when making his bow in the competition eight years earlier. [8]

Barrenetxea's rapid progression to the senior team made him the first youth product to appear at that level without already playing for the club's B-team, known as Sanse, since Antoine Griezmann did likewise in 2009. [2] Two days after his breakthrough, he was back playing with the C-team. [9]

Barrenetxea made his debut for Sanse on 6 January 2019, scoring on his debut in the third tier in a 3–0 home victory over Izarra. [10] He scored his first professional goal for the first team on 12 May, in a 3–1 home victory over Real Madrid. [11]

On 9 June 2019, Barrenetxea was definitely promoted to the main squad of the Txuri-urdin. [12] He played a part in the club's run to the 2020 Copa del Rey final, starting in the earlier rounds (contributing three goals) and coming off the bench in the quarter-final win against Real Madrid at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. [13] The final was delayed for almost a year due to COVID-19, with Barrenetxea introduced as a late substitute in the 1–0 Basque derby victory over Athletic Bilbao. [14]

He missed the second half of the 2021–22 season with a thigh injury which required surgery, [15] but recovered successfully after an operation by surgeon Lasse Lempainen in Turku, Finland. [16] By February 2023, he had reached the milestone of 100 appearances for the club, aged 21; [17] at the end of that season, Real qualified for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in a decade. [18]

International career

Barrenetxea was called up for the Spain Under-16 team in 2016 [19] and 2017, [3] and appeared for the Under-18s in November 2018. [20] He also featured for the regional Basque Country in the same age groups. [21] [22]

He was selected for the 20-man Spain squad for the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, and came on as an 80th-minute substitute as Spain beat Portugal 2–0 in the final to be crowned winners of the competition. [23]

Barrenetxea received call-ups to Under-21 side for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship [24] and was taking part in the tournament as Spain awarded as runner-ups after England defeated Spain by 1-0 in the final. [25]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 24 October 2025 [26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Sociedad C 2018–19 Tercera División 41———41
Real Sociedad B 2018–19 Segunda División B 81———81
Real Sociedad 2018–19 La Liga 9100——91
2019–20 171 [a] 7 [b] 3——244 [a]
2020–21 313206 [c] 01 [d] 0403
2021–22 111104 [c] 0—161
2022–23 233101 [c] 0—253
2023–24 304307 [e] 2—406
2024–25 3017410 [c] 3—468
2025–26 10100——101
Total16015 [a] 2172851021027 [a]
Career total17217 [a] 2172851022229 [a]
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Includes one goal against Mallorca on 26 January 2020, credited as an own goal in some sources. [27]
  2. ↑ Includes appearance in 2020 Copa del Rey Final (played in 2021)
  3. 1 2 3 4 Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  4. ↑ Appearance in Supercopa de España
  5. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

Honours

Real Sociedad

Spain U19

Spain U21

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Ander Barrenetxea". Real Sociedad. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  2. 1 2 "El camino de las estrellas" [The way of the stars]. Noticias de Gipuzkoa (in Spanish). 24 December 2018. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  3. 1 2 "Ander Barrenetxea y Peru Ruiz, con la sub-16" [Ander Barrenetxea and Peru Ruiz, with the under-16s]. Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 29 March 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  4. 1 2 "RealSociedad ha fichado a los jugadores de Antiguoko para la 13/14, Jesus Owono, Ander Barrenetxea,Jon Sanchez y Martin Zubimendi,Zorionak". Antiguoko. 1 June 2013. Retrieved 24 December 2018– via Twitter.
  5. ↑ "Amplía su compromiso hasta 2025" [Extended his link until 2025] (in Spanish). Real Sociedad. 7 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  6. ↑ "Barrenetxea becomes the first player born in the 21st century to play in LaLiga Santander". Marca . 22 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  7. ↑ "Debuta en LaLiga el primer futbolista nacido en el siglo XXI" [First LaLiga debut for a footballer born in the 21st century]. El País (in Spanish). 23 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Barrenetxea, el 26º debutante más joven de la historia de la Liga" [Barrenetxea, the 26th youngest debutant in the history of the League]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). 22 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  9. ↑ "Real Sociedad starlet Barrenetxea goes from top flight to fourth tier in 48 hours". Marca. 22 December 2018. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  10. ↑ "Barrenetxea, Roberto López y Olaizola hacen de Reyes Magos" [Barrenetxea, Roberto López and Olaizola are the Wise Men]. Grada 3 (in Spanish). 6 January 2019. Retrieved 15 January 2019.
  11. ↑ "Real Sociedad vs. Real Madrid – Football Match Report". ESPN.com. 12 May 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  12. ↑ "Promote to the first team". Real Sociedad. 9 June 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2019.
  13. ↑ Real Madrid dumped out by Real Sociedad in Copa del Rey thriller, Sid Lowe, The Guardian, 6 February 2020
  14. 1 2 Lowe, Sid (3 April 2021). "Real Sociedad beat Athletic to claim Copa del Rey and Basque glory". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  15. ↑ "Ander Barrenetxea será operado en Finlandia de su grave lesión en el muslo izquierdo" [Ander Barrenetxea will undergo surgery in Finland for his serious injury to his left thigh]. El Diario Vasco (in Spanish). 5 January 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  16. ↑ ”Yksi hirveimmistä vammoista, mitä olen nähnyt” – kammoarvion saanut huippupelaaja leikattiin Turussa, Iltalehti, 15 January 2022
  17. ↑ Roberto Ramajo (16 February 2023). "Barrenetxea, centenario con sólo 21 años" [Barrenetxea, centenarian at only 21 years old]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  18. ↑ Real Sociedad aiming for Champions League return against Atlético, France24, 26 May 2023
  19. ↑ "Ander Barrenetxea, convocado con la sub-16" [Ander Barrenetxea, summoned to the under-16s] (in Spanish). Real Sociedad. 25 November 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  20. ↑ "Match Report: Second win for Spain against China (2–0)". Sefutbol. Royal Spanish Football Federation. 22 November 2018. Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  21. ↑ "Convocatoria selección de Euskadi sub 18 y 16 Masculina" [Call for Euskadi under 18 and under 16 Men's selections] (in Spanish). Kirolak. 23 December 2016. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  22. ↑ "Tres victorias y una derrota para Euskadi en la 1ª fase disputada en Navarra" [Three victories and one defeat for Euskadi in the first phase played in Navarra]. La Cantera de Lezama (in Spanish). 29 December 2017. Retrieved 24 December 2018.
  23. ↑ "Spain win 2019 U19 EURO: at a glance". UEFA . 27 July 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
  24. ↑ "Convocatoria de España para el Europeo sub-21". UEFA.com (in Spanish). UEFA. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  25. ↑ "2023 Under-21 Euro final: England vs Spain". UEFA.com. 8 July 2023. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  26. ↑ Ander Barrenetxea at BDFutbol
  27. ↑ Real Sociedad 3 Mallorca 0, BDFutbol
  28. ↑ "Athletic Club 0–1 Real Sociedad: result, summary, goal". AS.com. 4 April 2021. Archived from the original on 19 April 2021. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  29. ↑ England 1-0 Spain: James Trafford saves last-gasp penalty as England win dramatic UEFA European Under-21 Championship, Ben Southby, TNT Sports , 9 July 2023
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