The image of Asier Villalibre (Gernika, 25 years old) with his long and unkempt beard playing the trumpet after defeating Barcelona in the Supercup final went around the world, becoming a meme and even an object of ridicule when he briefly then Álex Remiro, a Real Sociedad goalkeeper with a rojiblanco past, mocked the Athletic striker after the Cup final between the two Basque teams. He then apologized, among other things, for saying that Villalibre, nicknamed ‘El Búfalo’ by his coach as a boy because of his way of attacking his rivals, was a man without duplicity; the same on the pitch as off. Can sum up the red card Lionel Messi received for his slap in three words: “He got angry.”
If previously it was the Athletic fans who showed him great affection and still do, in just six months at Alavés he managed to surrender the stands of Mendizorroza at his feet. He made his successful debut in the derby against Eibar in Vitoria. Luis García Plaza brought him onto the field in the 62nd minute and seven minutes later he ended the game with a header from a Luis Rioja pass. A few minutes later he scored his team’s second goal and began to win a place in the hearts of the Alava fans, who gave him the ovation reserved for their idols every time he stepped onto the field.
Only recently, on the final day of the regular season, Villalibre left the field in tears. A win would have given Alavés direct promotion and he had the clearest chances for his team, after a great run and hand in hand with Álvaro Vallés, who was the hero of the Unión Deportiva Las Palms’ promotion that afternoon. Alavés had the ball from the playoffs, leaving Eibar in the gutter and in the final Levante, who failed to score in both league games and the first leg of the final in Mendizorroza. Neither in 128 minutes of the second game nor. The tie ended with the Valencians, but Laguardia had told his team-mates in the pre-game conversation: “A friend told me that this team specializes in screwing things up in extreme situations.” His words were prophetic. On the penultimate play, a hand that discovered VAR changed history forever. Luis Rioja wanted to throw it away, but Villalibre, with his amazing calmness, came up to him and said to him: “I’m going to throw it away”. He caught the ball, fooling Femenías and going down in Glorioso history.
He later explained it simply, admitting that he would play the trumpet in Vitoria, “not here, out of respect for the Levante fans”. El Barbas is what his team-mates call him from Alavés, where he landed on his feet and immediately secured a place in the dressing room because he was never a football diva despite being one of the most promising players at Athletic’s youth academy. He made his debut at the affiliate aged 17, the season in which he was promoted to the second tier, but missed the trip to Murcia to play against UCAM in the middle of qualifiers because he had the university eligibility exams. “Training comes first. “He’s a sensational boy, but there are more important things,” said his coach Cuco Ziganda. He had previously excelled at Basconia, also an Athletic subsidiary, with 20 goals in 34 games.
He made his debut in the second tier with Bilbao Athletic and then took on various assignments to Numancia, Lorca and Valladolid, which he accepted without question but which didn’t go entirely well. He returned to Athletic, scoring the goal in the 90th minute that sent the Supercup final into extra time, playing trumpet there, on the pitch and with the Orsai group made up of Athletic players. He is still an ordinary boy who does not choose exotic places for his vacation, preferring to visit festivals in Gernika, to play with a brass band or play goalkeeper in a children’s game.
Various muscle injuries saw him play a minor role at Athletic and on his last renewal he accepted a new contract, that of Alavés, leaving the number 20 he inherited from Aduriz and now, after another decisive goal, will play the trumpet in front of thousands of Albiazule supporters in the Plaza de la Virgen Blanca. Victoria loves him.
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