Aitor Cantalapiedra
Aitor playing for Twente in 2018
Personal information
Full name Aitor Cantalapiedra Fernández
Date of birth (1996-02-10) 10 February 1996
Place of birth Barcelona, Spain
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Panathinaikos
Number 22
Youth career
2001–2002 Cinc Copes
2002–2006 Barcelona
2006–2009 Espanyol
2009–2010 Sant Andreu
2010–2012 Damm
2012–2014 Cornellà
2014–2015 Barcelona
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2016 Barcelona B 18 (4)
2015 Barcelona 0 (0)
2016–2017 Villarreal B 47 (2)
2016 Villarreal 1 (0)
2017–2018 Sevilla B 21 (1)
2018–2020 Twente 56 (20)
2020– Panathinaikos 65 (20)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 16 September 2023

Aitor Cantalapiedra Fernández (born 10 February 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Greek Super League club Panathinaikos.

He played for the reserve teams of Barcelona, Villarreal and Sevilla, while also playing for the first team in the Copa del Rey for his first club and in La Liga for the second. Abroad, he won the Dutch Eerste Divisie with Twente in 2019 and scored the only goal of the 2022 Greek Football Cup Final for Panathinaikos.

Career

Barcelona

Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Aitor joined FC Barcelona's youth school in 2002, aged six, after starting it out at PB Cinc Copes.[1] Released in 2006, he spent his youth at three other teams in the region – RCD Espanyol, CF Damm and UE Cornellà – before joining Barça's youth ranks towards the end of the 2013–14 season.[2][3]

After finishing his graduation, Aitor was promoted to the reserves in July 2015, after the club's relegation to Segunda División B.[4] He made his senior debut on 22 August of that year, replacing Joan Campins for the final 21 minutes of a 1–2 loss at former club Cornellà.[5]

Aitor scored his first senior goal on 5 September 2015, equalising in the 43rd minute against rivals RCD Espanyol B at the Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque, albeit in a 2–3 defeat.[6] On 11 October, he scored the only goal in a home success over CD Alcoyano.[7]

On 28 October 2015, Aitor made his first team debut, coming on as a 64th-minute substitute for fellow debutant Wilfrid Kaptoum in a 0–0 away draw against CF Villanovense, for the season's Copa del Rey.[8][9] He played all 90 minutes in the return leg at the Camp Nou, which Barcelona won 6–1 and proceeded to the next round.[10]

Villarreal and Sevilla

On 12 January 2016, despite being their top scorer with four goals as they fought a second successive relegation, Aitor's contract with Barcelona B was rescinded as part of a mid-season revolution; hours later he joined Villarreal CF, being again put into their B-team.[11] He made his La Liga debut on 28 August, replacing Nicola Sansone for the final three minutes of a goalless draw at Sevilla FC.[12]

On 7 August 2017, Aitor signed for another reserve team, Sevilla Atlético in Segunda División.[13] He played exactly half of games as they finished the season in last place, only scoring in the 2–1 loss at Lorca FC on the final day.[14]

Twente

Aitor moved abroad for the first time on 31 July 2018, signing a two-year deal for FC Twente of the Dutch Eerste Divisie.[15] He scored 13 times in his first season in the Netherlands, as the team won promotion to the Eredivisie as champions with three games to spare, adding three more in the KNVB Cup.[16] He netted seven goals in the 2019–20 top-flight campaign, which was voided due to the COVID-19 pandemic; this included two in a 3–1 home win over FC Utrecht on 1 September.[17]

Panathinaikos

Aitor signed a three-year contract with Panathinaikos FC of Super League Greece on 24 June 2020.[18] He scored his first goal for the club in a 2–0 home win against PAS Giannina F.C. on 12 December.[19]

On 27 February 2022, Aitor scored in a 3–0 home win against AEK Athens F.C. in a local derby;[20] he scored the only goal on 17 April in a win over Olympiacos F.C. in the Derby of the eternal enemies also at the Leoforos Alexandras Stadium.[21] On 21 May, he repeated the feat from the penalty spot in the 2022 Greek Football Cup Final against PAOK.[22]

Aitor scored eight goals and registered two assists in the first eight games of 2022–23 for the team from Athens.[23] On 17 September he scored the first hat-trick of his career, with all the goals of a home win over Giannina; the first two came from direct free kicks and the last after a long dribble.[24]

Career statistics

Club

As of 3 December 2023
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Barcelona B 2015–16 Segunda División 184——184
Barcelona 2015–16 La Liga 0020—20
Villarreal B 2015–16 Segunda División 140——140
2016–17 332——332
Total 472——472
Villarreal 2016–17 La Liga 1000—10
Sevilla B 2017–18 Segunda División 211——211
Twente 2018–19 Eerste Divisie 351343—3916
2019–20 Eredivisie 21711—228
Total 562054—6124
Panathinaikos 2020–21 Super League Greece 22320—243
2021–22 Super League Greece 30772—379
2022–23 Super League Greece 98002[lower-alpha 2]0118
2023–24 Super League Greece 720060112
Total 68209288522
Career total 211471668023555

Honours

Barcelona

Twente

Panathinaikos

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Camino del Camp Nou: Aitor Cantalapiedra" [Road to Camp Nou: Aitor Cantalapiedra] (in Spanish). Vavel. 26 October 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "Emotivo y decisivo" [Emotional and decisive] (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  3. ↑ "Sergi Samper-Aitor Cantalapiedra: Una conexión con 13 años de historia" [Sergi Samper-Aitor Cantalapiedra: a connection with 13 years of history] (in Spanish). Sport. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  4. ↑ "Barça B: Several Juvenil players to begin pre-season with the second team". Sport. 12 July 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  5. ↑ "2–1: el Barça B cae en Cornellà en el último minuto y de penalti" [2–1: Barça B falls in Cornellà in the last minute and in a penalty]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 23 August 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "3–2: El Espanyol B lleva de cabeza al Barça B" [3–2: Espanyol B takes Barça B by heads] (in Spanish). El Mundo Deportivo. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "FC Barcelona B v CD Alcoyano: First win at Miniestadi (1–0)". Barcelona's official website. 11 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  8. ↑ "Los niños no hacen los deberes" [The kids do not make their homework] (in Spanish). Marca. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  9. ↑ "Wilfrid Kaptoum and Aitor Cantalapiedra just the latest to debut under Luis Enrique". Barcelona's official website. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015.
  10. ↑ FC Barcelona vs. CF Villanovense match report; goal.com, 2 December 2015
  11. ↑ "Aitor Cantalapiedra: "La dirección del Barça B no es buena"" [Aitor Cantalapiedra: "Barça B are not moving in the right direction"] (in Spanish). Sport. 14 January 2016. Retrieved 24 February 2016.
  12. ↑ "Empate a bostezos" [Snore draw]. Marca (in Spanish). 29 August 2016. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
  13. ↑ "Aitor Cantalapiedra firma por un Sevilla Atlético del que se despide Ivi" [Aitor Cantalapiedra signs for a Sevilla Atlético which Ivi leaves] (in Spanish). Sevilla FC. 7 August 2017. Retrieved 8 August 2017.
  14. ↑ "El Sevilla Atlético acaba colista, como casi siempre (2-1)" [Sevilla Atlético finish in last place, as almost always (2–1)]. Diario de Sevilla (in Spanish). 1 June 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  15. ↑ "El Twente ficha a Aitor Cantalapiedra, un ex Barça B" [Twente sign Aitor Cantalapiedra, formerly of Barça B]. Sport (in Spanish). 31 July 2018. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  16. 1 2 "Cantalapiedra: "En el Twente he encontrado mi sitio en el fútbol"" [Cantalapiedra: "I've found my place in football at Twente"]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 25 April 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
  17. ↑ "Specialist Aitor schiet Twente langs Utrecht in duel vol VAR-momenten" [Specialist Aitor shoots Twente past Utrecht in duel full of VAR moments] (in Dutch). Voetbal International. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  18. ↑ "Παναθηναϊκός: Αϊτόρ τριετίας και επίσημα" [Panathinaikos: Aitor for three years and officially] (in Greek). Sport 24. 24 June 2020.
  19. ↑ "Παναθηναϊκός - ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 2-0: Διατήρησε το σερί και κέρδισε τον Αϊτόρ το τριφύλλι". www.sport24.gr. 12 December 2020.
  20. ↑ "Παναθηναϊκός - ΑΕΚ 3-0: Με τριάρα πήρε το πρώτο φετινό ντέρμπι και "κλείδωσε" τα playoffs". www.sport24.gr. 27 February 2022.
  21. ↑ Kallos, Dimitri (18 April 2022). "Panathinaikos powers past Olympiacos in triumphant derby to delay their title celebrations". Neos Kosmos. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  22. 1 2 "Soccer-Fan violence mars Greek Cup final". Reuters. 21 May 2022. Retrieved 24 August 2022.
  23. ↑ Peinado, Alejandro (2 October 2022). "Cantalapiedra, el nuevo 'Dios' de Atenas" [Cantalapiedra, the new 'God' of Athens]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 October 2022.
  24. ↑ Kallos, Dimitri (19 September 2022). "Aris comes from behind to hand Olympiacos first league defeat of the season". Neos Kosmos. Retrieved 17 October 2022.
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