Álex Baena

Alejandro "Álex" Baena Rodríguez is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a left midfielder, left winger, or attacking midfielder for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the Spain national team.

Club career

Baena was born in Roquetas de Mar, Almería, Andalusia, and joined Villarreal's youth setup in 2011, from Roquetas. He made his senior debut with the C-team on 21 December 2018, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 Tercera División home victory against Rayo Ibense.
Ahead of the 2019–20 season, Baena was assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B, debuting as a starter on 14 September 2019 in a 3–0 victory against Llagostera. On 13 July of the following year, he made his first-team league debut, replacing fellow youth graduate Manu Trigueros in a 1–2 home loss against Real Sociedad.
Baena scored his first professional goal on 5 November 2020, netting his club's third in a 4–0 UEFA Europa League home routing of Maccabi Tel Aviv. Seven days later, he renewed his contract until 2025. On 19 August 2021, Baena moved to Segunda División club Girona on a one-year loan. On 26 August 2022, he and teammate Nicolas Jackson were fully promoted to the main squad. In the 2023–24 season, he became the top assist provider in La Liga with 14 assists.

On 2 July 2025, Baena joined Atlético Madrid, signing a five-year-contract.

Baena represented Spain at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels, appearing in the 2018 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. He also called up to the under-21 team for the 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship where Spain finished as runners-up.
In August 2023, Baena received his first call-up to the Spain senior national team by head coach Luis de la Fuente, for two [UEFA Euro Football at the 2024 Summer Olympics – Men's tournament|2024 qualifying Group A|UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying] matches against Georgia and Cyprus. He went on to score his first goal for Spain on his debut against the latter opponent in a 6–0 victory. In May 2024, Baena was named in the 26-man squad for the UEFA Euro 2024.
In July 2024, Baena was included in the Spain U23 squad for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. He scored a goal from a free kick in the gold medal match against France, where Spain won by 5–3 after extra time.

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	12 September 2023	Nuevo Los Cármenes, Granada, Spain	1		5–0	6–0	UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying
2	15 October 2024	Estadio Nuevo Arcángel, Córdoba, Spain	7		3–0	3–0	2024–25 UEFA Nations League A

Villarreal

Spain U21

Spain U23

Spain

Individual