Asier Villalibre

Asier Villalibre
Villalibre celebrating Alavés' promotion in 2023
Personal information
Full name Asier Villalibre Molina[1]
Date of birth (1997-09-30) 30 September 1997[2]
Place of birth Guernica, Spain
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position Striker
Team information
Current team
 Racing Santander
Number 12
Youth career
2011–2014 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Basconia 45 (26)
2015–2019 Bilbao Athletic 99 (37)
2016–2024 Athletic Bilbao 102 (11)
2017 → Numancia (loan) 6 (0)
2017–2018 → Valladolid (loan) 13 (0)
2018 → Lorca (loan) 12 (0)
2023 → Alavés (loan) 16 (4)
2024–2026 Alavés 16 (1)
2025–2026 → Racing Santander (loan) 31 (16)
2026– Racing Santander 0 (0)
International career‡
2013–2014 Spain U17 9 (2)
2014–2015 Spain U18 3 (1)
2015 Spain U19 1 (0)
2019– Basque Country 3 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 07:37, 5 June 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 24 March 2024

Asier Villalibre Molina (born 30 September 1997) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Racing de Santander.

Club career

Athletic Bilbao

Villalibre in 2012

Born in Guernica, Biscay, Basque Country,[1] Villalibre joined Athletic Bilbao's youth setup in 2011. He made his debut as a senior with the farm team in the 2013–14 season, scoring on his Tercera División debut at the age of 15.[3]

In May 2015, after a further 20 goals for the third side, Villalibre was promoted to the reserves in the Segunda División – he had already represented them the previous campaign in the Segunda División B.[4] He made his professional debut on 24 August, coming on as a second-half substitute for Gorka Santamaría in a 1–0 home loss against Girona FC.[5]

Villalibre scored his first professional goal for Bilbao Athletic on 6 September 2015, closing the 3–1 home win over RCD Mallorca.[6] At 17 years and 341 days, this made him the second-youngest goalscorer for the team when competing in the second division (behind Ander Garitano's 17 years and 198 days in 1986).[7]

On 3 December 2016, Villalibre was called up to the first team for the Basque derby against SD Eibar, with habitual first-choice Aritz Aduriz suspended after being sent off in the previous league match.[8] He made his La Liga debut the following day, replacing Iñaki Williams after 84 minutes and providing the assist for Iker Muniain to score the final goal of a 3–1 victory in injury time.[9]

Villalibre appeared in his first game in European competition on 8 December 2016, contributing another decisive pass in a 1–1 draw away to SK Rapid Wien in the UEFA Europa League group stage after once again coming on from the bench.[10] In May 2017, he was loaned out to CD Numancia for one month.[11]

On 20 August 2017, Villalibre was loaned to second-tier club Real Valladolid for one year.[12] After only netting twice in the cup, his loan was terminated and he subsequently moved to Lorca FC of the same league also in a temporary deal.[13]

Villalibre scored his first league goal for Athletic on 25 January 2020, playing 84 minutes in the 1–1 away draw with RCD Espanyol.[14] The following 17 January, his last-minute equaliser against FC Barcelona earned extra time and an eventual 3–2 win in the 2021 Supercopa de España final; he was also the target of an aggression that earned Lionel Messi the first club red card of his career.[15]

After totalling 35 games and four goals in 2020–21, Villalibre fell down the pecking order the following years,[16] and was loaned to Deportivo Alavés on 30 January 2023.[17] He scored twice during the second-division play-offs to help the club to gain promotion, starting with a 2–0 victory over Eibar;[18] in the second leg of the final at Levante UD, his penalty deep into injury time of extra time was the tie's only goal.[19]

Back with Athletic, on 16 September 2023 Villalibre scored in a 3–0 win over Cádiz CF just a few seconds after replacing Gorka Guruzeta.[20] On 7 December, in his first start of the season, he netted twice against CD Cayón in the second round of the Copa del Rey.[21][22] A month later, he added two to help defeat Eibar in the round of 32 (3–0),[23] repeating the feat in the next stage as the hosts downed Alavés 2–0;[24][25] with these six goals, he equalled Javi Luke's tally from the 1991–92 edition,[26] and finished joint-top scorer of the tournament together with Abdón Prats and Anastasios Douvikas.[27] He did not leave the bench in the final, won against Mallorca on penalties.[28][29]

Alavés

On 15 July 2024, Villalibre returned to Alavés on a four-year contract.[30] He played much less minutes in his second spell, scoring his only goal on 28 August in the 2–1 win at Real Sociedad from a penalty.[31][32]

Racing Santander

In August 2025, Villalibre was loaned to second division side Racing de Santander with an obligatory buyout clause in case of promotion.[33] In his first three appearances for the latter, he scored four times[34] to be named Segunda División Player of the Month.[35]

Villalibre scored 16 goals for Racing, who returned to the top flight as champions; consequently, he signed a permanent deal on 19 May 2026.[36]

International career

Villalibre made his debut for the unofficial Basque Country national team in May 2019, in a 0–0 draw away to Panama for which a small, youthful and inexperienced squad was selected.[37][38]

Career statistics

As of match played 25 May 2024[39][40][41]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Copa del Rey Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Basconia 2013–14 Tercera División 116———116
2014–15 Tercera División 3420———3420
Total 45260000004526
Bilbao Athletic 2014–15 Segunda División B 20——2[a]040
2015–16 Segunda División 323———323
2016–17 Segunda División B 2711———2711
2018–19 Segunda División B 3823———3823
Total 993700002010137
Athletic Bilbao 2016–17 La Liga 60002[b]0—80
2019–20 La Liga 1935[c]2——245
2020–21 La Liga 35461—2[d]1436
2021–22 La Liga 19210—00202
2022–23 La Liga 5030——80
2023–24 La Liga 18266——248
Total 10211219202112721
Numancia (loan) 2016–17 Segunda División 6000——60
Valladolid (loan) 2017–18 Segunda División 13042——172
Lorca (loan) 2017–18 Segunda División 12000——120
Alavés (loan) 2022–23 Segunda División 164——4[e]2206
Career total 293782511208332892
  1. ↑ Appearances in Segunda División B play-offs
  2. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ↑ Includes appearance in 2020 Copa del Rey final (played in 2021)
  4. ↑ Appearances in Supercopa de España
  5. ↑ Appearances in Segunda División play-offs

Honours

Athletic Bilbao

Racing Santander

References

  1. 1 2 "Villalibre aterriza en el Racing" [Villalibre lands at Racing]. El Diario Cantabria (in Spanish). 9 August 2025. Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  2. 1 2 "Villalibre". Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 23 December 2025.
  3. ↑ Martín, Javi (10 September 2015). "Villalibre: El debut soñado con 15 años" [Villalibre: A dream debut at 15 years] (in Spanish). La Cantera de Lezama. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  4. ↑ F. Mangana, David (9 May 2015). "Asier Villalibre, un nuevo cachorro en el Bilbao Athletic" [Asier Villalibre, a new pup at Bilbao Athletic] (in Spanish). Vavel. Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  5. ↑ García-Muñoz, Sergio (24 August 2015). "El que la sigue, la consigue" [He who wants it, gets it]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 August 2015.
  6. ↑ "El filial remonta al Mallorca y suma sus tres primeros puntos" [The reserves complete a comeback over Mallorca and get their first points]. Marca (in Spanish). 6 September 2015. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
  7. ↑ Martín, Javi (7 September 2015). "Asier Villalibre: segundo goleador más jóven de la historia del Bilbao Athletic en 2ª División" [Asier Villalibre: second-youngest goalscorer of Bilbao Athletic's history in 2nd Division] (in Spanish). La Cantera de Lezama. Retrieved 4 September 2016.
  8. ↑ San Cristóbal, Einara (3 December 2016). "Villalibre se estrena en convocatoria ante el Eibar" [Villalibre gets first selection against Eibar]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  9. ↑ Callero, Borja Luis (4 December 2016). "Un león a la carrera por Europa" [A lion runs loose in Europe]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 December 2016.
  10. ↑ "La semana soñada de Villalibre" [Villalibre's dream week]. El Correo (in Spanish). 9 December 2016. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
  11. ↑ "Asier Villalibre, nuevo jugador del C. D. Numancia" [Asier Villalibre, new player of C.D. Numancia] (in Spanish). CD Numancia. 2 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2017.
  12. ↑ "Villalibre fortalece el ataque" [Villalibre strengthens the attack] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 20 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  13. ↑ "Asier Villalibre on-loan". Athletic Bilbao. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 2 February 2018.
  14. ↑ García, Miguel Ángel (25 January 2020). "Con RDT hay esperanza" [There's hope with RDT]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  15. ↑ Carnerero, Fernando (17 January 2021). "La Supercopa de Williams" [Williams' Supercup]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  16. ↑ Ugalde, Iñaki (19 August 2022). "Villalibre solo ha completado 4 de sus 80 partidos de Liga con el Athletic" [Villalibre has only completed 4 of his 80 League matches with Athletic]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 4 February 2023.
  17. ↑ "Villalibre jugará cedido en el Deportivo Alavés" [Villalibre will play on loan at Deportivo Alavés] (in Spanish). Athletic Bilbao. 30 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  18. ↑ "El Alavés se agarra a Mendizorroza para meterse en la final" [Alavés hold on to Mendizorroza to reach final] (in Spanish). Relevo. 8 June 2023. Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  19. ↑ Portillo Maya, Sara (17 June 2023). "Levante 0–1 Alavés: Un gol de penalti en los últimos compases decide el ascenso" [Levante 0–1 Alavés: Penalty goal in dying breath decides promotion]. Estadio Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 19 June 2023.
  20. ↑ Velasco, Juanma (16 September 2023). "El Athletic disfruta de un buen ariete" [Athletic enjoy a good striker]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  21. ↑ Herrán, Alfonso (7 December 2023). "El Athletic aniquila el sueño del Cayón en la Copa del Rey" [Athletic annhilate Cayón's dream in King's Cup]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  22. ↑ Velasco, Juanma (7 December 2023). "Villalibre acepta el reto y hace un doblete ganador" [Villalibre accepts challenge and bags winning brace]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  23. ↑ Velasco, Juanma (7 January 2024). "Festival del Athletic en Eibar" [Athletic festival in Eibar]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  24. ↑ Velasco, Juanma (16 January 2024). "El Athletic va en serio a por la Copa" [Athletic mean business in Cup]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  25. ↑ Rodríguez Beltrán, Javier (17 January 2024). "Villalibre: "Dentro del campo no hay amigos"" [Villalibre: "No such thing as friends on a pitch"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  26. ↑ Aramendia, Arkaitz (16 January 2024). "Una Copa con sello propio para Villalibre" [Villalibre's name written all over Cup]. Deia (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  27. ↑ "Douvikas, pichichi de la Copa junto a Villalibre y Abdón Prats" [Douvikas, Cup top scorer alongside Villalibre and Abdón Prats]. La Voz de Galicia (in Spanish). 7 April 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  28. ↑ Carnerero, Fernando (7 April 2024). "El Athletic cantó la 'cuarenta'" [Athletic sang 'forties']. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 April 2024.
  29. 1 2 Reinoso del Real, Mario (7 April 2024). "Athletic 1–1 (4–2) Mallorca, en directo: final de Copa del Rey 2024 | Celebración del Athletic, campeón de Copa" [Athletic 1–1 (4–2) Mallorca, live: 2024 King's Cup final | Celebrations of Athletic, Cup champions]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 7 April 2024.
  30. ↑ "Villalibre vuelve al Deportivo Alavés" [Villalibre returns to Deportivo Alavés] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  31. ↑ Planas, Pablo (28 August 2024). "Toni Martínez da los primeros tres puntos al Alavés ante una Real Sociedad condicionada" [Toni Martínez gives first three points to Alavés against limited Real Sociedad]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 June 2026.
  32. ↑ Marcos, Nagore (10 May 2025). "El ostracismo de Asier Villalibre en el Alavés" [Asier Villalibre's ostracism at Alavés]. Deia (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 June 2026.
  33. ↑ "Asier Villalibre jugará esta temporada en el Real Racing Club de Santander" [Asier Villalibre will play this season at Real Racing Club de Santander] (in Spanish). Deportivo Alavés. 9 August 2025. Retrieved 10 August 2025.
  34. ↑ Echevarría, Aitor (31 August 2025). "Villalibre renace como goleador y ya es pichichi de Segunda" [Villalibre is born again as a scorer and is already pichichi of Segunda]. El Correo (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 September 2025.
  35. ↑ "Villalibre, Mejor Jugador de LALIGA HYPERMOTION en agosto" [Villalibre, Best LALIGA HYPERMOTION Player in August] (in Spanish). La Liga. 12 September 2025. Retrieved 21 December 2025.
  36. ↑ Fernández, Pedro (19 May 2026). "Villalibre es el primer fichaje del Racing de Primera" [Villalibre is Racing's first Primera signing]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 10 June 2026.
  37. ↑ Lekuona, Javier (30 May 2019). "Empate sin goles de la Euskal Selekzioa ante Panamá" [Basque Selection goalless draw against Panama]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  38. ↑ "Empate entre la Euskal Selekzioa y Panamá (0–0)" [Draw between Basque Selection and Panama (0–0)] (in Spanish). EITB. 30 May 2019. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  39. ↑ Asier Villalibre at Athletic Bilbao
  40. ↑ Asier Villalibre at Soccerway
  41. ↑ Asier Villalibre at FBref.com
  42. ↑ Lowe, Sid (3 April 2021). "Real Sociedad beat Athletic to claim Copa del Rey and Basque glory". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  43. ↑ Lowe, Sid (17 April 2021). "Messi stars as Barcelona thrash Athletic Bilbao to lift Copa del Rey". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  44. ↑ "Acta del partido celebrado el 17 de enero de 2021, en Sevilla" [Minutes of the match held on 17 January 2021, in Seville] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Archived from the original on 24 January 2021. Retrieved 24 January 2021.
  45. ↑ García, Gregorio (31 May 2026). "El Racing se proclama campeón y se despide de Segunda a lo grande" [Racing are crowned champions and say goodbye to Segunda in style]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 June 2026.
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