Albert Celades López is a Spanish former footballer who played as a defensive midfielder, and a manager. A tactically astute player with a strong defensive mentality, he was best known for his stints with Barcelona and Real Madrid, and he amassed La Liga total of 223 matches and eight goals over 12 seasons, winning ten major titles both clubs combined. Celades appeared with the Spain national team at the 1998 World Cup.
Playing career
Club
Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Celades – who left Barcelona at age seven with his family to live in Andorra– was a product of FC Barcelona's youth system. He made his debut with the main squad during 1995–96, and finished his first professional season with 16 games and two goals as the Catalans finished third in La Liga. Nevertheless, he would still spend another full campaign with the club's B-team. Celades played 36 matches in 1997–98, mostly as a sweeper, as the Louis van Gaal-led team conquered the national title after a three-year drought. He also started both legs of the 1997 UEFA Super Cup, helping to a 3–1 aggregate victory over Borussia Dortmund, but appeared less significantly in the following season, with Barça renewing its domestic supremacy. After a year with RC Celta de Vigo, Celades moved to Real Madrid, against which he had scored the winner in the previous campaign, on 28 November 1999. He featured sparingly over four seasons, but added two league trophies and the 2002UEFA Champions League to his résumé. He also played 2003–04on loan, to Ligue 1 side FC Girondins de Bordeaux. From 2005 to 2008, Celades represented Real Zaragoza. In his first year he helped the club reach the Copa del Rey final, and would be relatively used during three seasons as the Aragonese were relegated at the end of 2007–08, and the player was released after his contract expired. In February 2009, he went on trial with the New York Red Bulls in the Major League Soccer and, after impressing, signed in March. Celades retired from competitive football on 24 October 2009, immediately following the conclusion of the season. In early 2010, however, Kitchee SC from Hong Kong signed him alongside compatriot Agustín Aranzábal; they both appeared with the team at the 2010 Lunar New Year Cup, a mid-season exhibition tournament.
On 7 May 2014, after Julen Lopetegui left for FC Porto, Celades was named manager of the Spanish under-21s after leaving the under-16 team. In October, the former lost their play-off against Serbia for entrance to the 2015 UEFA European Championship, in which they would have been defending champions; the 1–2 second leg loss in Cádiz was their first in 35 games. On 18 July 2018, Celades resigned from his position at the Royal Spanish Football Federation after five years managing the youth teams, also having acted as assistant to the full team during the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. On 3 August he was appointed as assistant coach of Real Madrid, reuniting with Lopetegui after their period at the Spanish Federation. On 11 September 2019, Celades became manager of Valencia CF following the dismissal of Marcelino García Toral. His first match in charge took place three days later, in a 5–2 away defeat to his former club Barcelona. The following week, all players refused to accompany him at a press conference ahead of the Champions League fixture against Chelsea, in solidarity with his predecessor. Celades was relieved of his duties on 29 June 2020, with the team ranked in eighth and six games to go.
