What happened to Miguel de las Cuevas? The hero of the Bernabéu with Sporting de Gijón

Miguel Ángel de las Cuevas Barberá, known in the football world as Miguel de las Cuevas, is all a classic of Spanish football. From the age of 16, when he made his debut with Hercules in Second Division B, until today, he has 18 seasons in the elite and at 34 years old, the Alicante is on the way to playing his nineteenth, now in the ranks of Córdoba CF, in the bronze category.

Hercules, Atlético de Madrid, Sporting de Gijón, Osasuna, Spezia Calcio and Córdoba They have been, for the moment, the teams in which Miguel de las Cuevas has tried to put his quality at the service of the team. Far from retiring now at Córdoba, the midfielder is living a 'second youth', uncovering himself as a scorer. In his last two seasons in Andalusia, he has scored nine and seven goals respectively, two of his three best seasons in terms of goals scored in his entire career.

But until he got to wear the white-green shirt, Miguel de las Cuevas has had a career on the green full of high points, such as the promotion with Hercules to Second with only 18 years, his signing for Atlético de Madrid by Javier Aguirre, the victory with Sporting de Gijón against Real Madrid de Mourinho at the Bernabéu with his goal or the promotion with CA Osasuna to First. However, he has also suffered the death of Manolo Preciado, the descent to Second with Osasuna, a heart operation when playing in Italy or the descent with Córdoba to Segunda B.

Promise of Spanish football and signing for Atlético de Madrid

His career hits a spectacular leap when changing the Hercules of Alicante for Atlético de Madrid. At just 18 years old, he had been promoted to Second with Hercules playing 32 games, and the following year he was again important with the Herculanos in Second, which awakens the interest of the rojiblancos in 2006/2007 to sign the then international under-19. However, in his first year he breaks his ankle and has no minutes.

Miguel de las Cuevas arrives at a team full of stars such as Fernando Torres, Agüero, Petrov, Maxi Rodríguez, Perea or Maniche, and trained by the Mexican Javier Aguirre. It is not easy for him to enter into the coach's plans, since players of the stature of Reyes, Raúl García, Simão, Banega, Assunção or Forlán were arriving at the team.

Given the low participation, with only 24 league games played in three seasons, and the arrival of Abel Resino, De las Cuevas change the red and white colors of the mattress club for those of Gijón, where it would become an emblem.

Goal at the Bernabéu, first defeat at home for Madrid de Mourinho

Without a doubt, one of the unforgettable moments of Miguel de las Cuevas' career is the goal he scored in the 2010/2011 season against Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabéu. The white team was facing the first year of Mourinho's project and had not lost a single point at home so far. However, On April 2, 2011, at minute 78, De las Cuevas received a ball from Nacho Cases inside the area and put it on his left out of the reach of Iker Casillas.

During three and a half seasons, the Alicante-born man became one of the referents of that Real Sporting de Gijón trained by Manolo Preciado. Together with Alberto Rivera, Diego Castro, Nacho Cases, André Castro, Trejo or Eguren as ball dispensers for Mate Bilić, Nacho Novo or Barral, they form a hard-working and dangerous team that ends up losing the category in the 2011/2012 campaign. In fact, he comes to be compared to Luka Modric, in the famous tweet of the journalist Antón Meana.

However, the worst of his time as a sportinguista was the loss of Manolo Preciado, a very special person for him, and a reference for all the players who were under his command.

Heart surgery after leaving CA Osasuna

Miguel de las Cuevas was in Pamplona six seasons, club with which he has worn a shirt the most times, 128 matches in all official competitions. It coincides with historical figures such as the Flaño brothers, Puñal, Oier, Riesgo, Roberto Torres or Nino, and sees the first steps of the now international Mikel Merino.

However, with the team in Segunda, in January 2015 he received an offer from the Italian Spezia Calcio, with 28 years, and lives his first and only experience abroad leaving one of the clubs of his heart. And precisely of the heart, due to heart failure, has to be operated on and is kept away from the playing fields for six months.

After the bad experience outside of Spain, returns to Osasuna just one year before promotion to First, where those of Arrasate still continue.

Relegation with Córdoba and now team leader and top scorer

Leaving the north after so many years in Pamplona and Gijón was not an easy task for Miguel de las Cuevas, but Now in Córdoba he feels at home and much loved, being one of the captains and one of the references for the fans.

The journey begins badly in the collective with the relegation to Second B after so many years without leaving professional football both for the club and for him, although it is his best individual scoring season with nine goals. And last season, in which he came out again with seven goals scored, the pandemic leaves the team with no options to fight for promotion to Second.

However, At 34, despite being in Second B, Miguel de las Cuevas is one of the stars of Córdoba CF, is better than ever, adapted to perfection in the club and in the city, and with the sole objective of returning the white-and-green team to the category in which he reached the entity and with which he descended.