Saturday is going to be a day of reunions for the Alaves and, twice, for Ruben
Duarte. The defender returns to the club where he trained as a player and with whom he debuted as a footballer and, in addition, like many of his colleagues, he will meet Abelardo, a very important coach in his professional career.
Face a different week. “Returning to what has been my home is always special and very emotional,” he said “grateful” to the Spanish. “I have spent many years there, since I was a child, and the club offered me the opportunity to train as a footballer,” he said.
A born fighter
At 24 years old, he has always worked hard. Entered into the lower categories of the Spanish and, after going through his different teams, he reached the first squad in the 14-15 season from the subsidiary.
The Barcelona team gave him the alternative in the highest category, in which he premiered with defeat against Valencia (1-2) on February 8, 2015 in Cornellá. From there, in that campaign he played 11 games as a starter in the first team and accumulated 990 minutes of play.
Everything was on wheels. In the following campaign, he consolidated and played 22 of the 38 league games. However, the irruption of the young man Aaron
Martin closed the doors of ownership in the 2016-2017 season. In it, he only participated in three league games with a total of 101 minutes of play. While reflecting on his future on the bench, the Alaves walked steadily towards the end of Cup May 2017.
But Ruben
Duarte he was not going to settle. He has always been brave and determined. For this reason, in the summer of 2017, he opted to redirect his career in the Sports
Alaves. However, in Vitoria-Gasteiz a difficult start awaited him.
At 21 years old, the Andalusian illusion was cut short as soon as he arrived. On the first league game, he saw the debuting coach in First
Luis
Zubeldia dispensed with Hector and from him, the two left-handed sides of the squad, to adapt another young man to that position, Alfonso
Pedraza, international winger on loan from the Villarreal. That day he suffered such disappointment that, when he was out of the call for the first official meeting, he even considered abandoning the blue-white discipline.
He was not discouraged and continued working. Javier
Hair, current assistant of Asier
Garitano, did trust him in the brief stage in which he was in charge of the first team – two days of transition since the cessation of Zubeldia until the arrival of Of
Biasi-. With the Italian he played intermittently until, with the arrival of Abelardo In December 2017, his luck changed.
Rubén Duarte is the player of the Alavés squad most used by Asier Garitano
The Gijón appreciated his discipline and qualities and made him indisputable. Ruben
Duarte He responded with a note to the confidence given and, since then, he has established himself as the starting left-back of the Alaves. Already has 118 games in First
Division82 of them contested with the blue-and-white sheepskin coat. In this campaign, it is the most used by Asier
Garitano, with 2,250 minutes of play and 25 of the 27 games played, all of them as a starter.
Offer of 8 million
Such has been its progression that in the Alaves You bet on it one hundred percent. Even last summer, as revealed by the albiazul sports director himself, Sergio
Fernandez, the Babazorro club rejected an offer of eight million euros for the player. With its continuity assured until June 2023, it is in the group of footballers with the longest contract and is one of the pillars in the current Babazorro project.
Everything has been made to wait a long time, first with confinement and then with this mini preseason
Despite the special nature of the game, Ruben
Duarte Park your feelings and bet on the blue and white possibilities this Saturday. He sees his teammates with “good feelings” and “intense desire” to compete. “We are already in the middle of the game week and everything has been made to wait a long time, first with confinement and then with this mini preseason,” he recalled.
Appreciates that Alaves He is “very well prepared” to face a competitive outcome full of unknowns. “We are going to go for the three points,” he said willing to give in Cornellá “A great step” towards salvation.
Ruben
Duarte highlights the power to have Thomas
Pineapple in this unprecedented championship final stretch. “It will be a very important reinforcement; Thank God, we are going to be able to have him ”, he stressed. See the youth of the branch who train these days with the first team “well and eager”. “If they are needed, hopefully they can help,” he wished. The template when completed performed yesterday in I was going the second of the four sessions this week planned to prepare for the clash of Cornellá.