Vitolo (footballer, born 1989)


Víctor Machín Pérez, known as Vitolo, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Atlético Madrid mainly as a left winger but also as a forward.
He began his career with Las Palmas before joining Sevilla in 2013, where he won the Europa League three times. He signed with Atlético Madrid in 2017, conquering the same competition in his first season and adding the subsequent Super Cup.
Vitolo won his first cap for Spain in 2015.

Club career

Las Palmas

Vitolo was born in Las Palmas. He came through the youth ranks at hometown club UD Las Palmas, playing for two years with the B-team before making the breakthrough in the 2010–11 season, with the Canary Islands side in the second division; he made his debut on 28 August 2010, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–2 home win against Gimnàstic de Tarragona, and scored his first goal for the club in a 4–1 defeat of AD Alcorcón on 11 September, also at home.
On 27 November 2010, in another home fixture, against Rayo Vallecano, Vitolo sustained an anterior cruciate ligament injury on his right knee that ruled him out for the rest of the campaign.

Sevilla

Vitolo joined Sevilla FC on 28 June 2013, after agreeing to a four-year contract. He made his debut in La Liga on 18 August by featuring the full 90 minutes in a 1–3 home loss to Atlético Madrid, and scored his first goal in the competition on 10 November, contributing to a 3–1 success at RCD Espanyol.
In his first season in Andalusia, Vitolo played 45 games all competitions comprised and scored eight times – this included four in 16 matches in the club's victorious run in the UEFA Europa League. On 12 March 2015 he scored the fastest-ever goal in the continental competition, finding the net after just 13 seconds to help to a 3–1 away win against fellow Spaniards Villarreal CF; he was surpassed on 15 September 2016 by Jan Sýkora from FC Slovan Liberec, who netted against Qarabağ FK at 10,69.
With three league goals in March 2015 – half of his total for the season up to then – Vitolo was voted La Liga Player of the Month. On 27 May, he assisted Carlos Bacca's winning goal as Sevilla retained their Europa League crown with a 3–2 victory over FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk in Warsaw.

Atlético Madrid

On 12 July 2017, Vitolo signed for Atlético Madrid on a five-year deal. However, due to the club's transfer ban which did not allow it to register any new players, he was sent on loan to Las Palmas until December.
Vitolo made his competitive debut for Atlético on 3 January 2018, coming on as a 59th-minute substitute for Yannick Carrasco in the 4–0 away win over Lleida Esportiu for the Copa del Rey. He scored his first goal in the second leg, a 3–0 success.

International career

On 20 March 2015, former Spanish under-19 international Vitolo was called up for the first time to the senior squad by coach Vicente del Bosque, ahead of a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against Ukraine. He did not take part in the match, a 1–0 victory at his club ground, the Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium, but made his debut in the following fixture, a 0–2 friendly loss at the Amsterdam Arena to the Netherlands on the 31st, replacing Pedro at half time.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

No.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition
15 September 2016Reino de León, León, Spain54–08–02018 World Cup qualification
26 October 2016Juventus Stadium, Turin, Italy61–01–12018 World Cup qualification
312 November 2016Nuevo Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain82–04–02018 World Cup qualification
424 March 2017El Molinón, Gijón, Spain92–04–12018 World Cup qualification

Honours

Club

Sevilla
Atlético Madrid