The lowdown on Alavés

FC Barcelona visit Alavés this Satuday. Let’s take a closer look at the team that the Catalans have already beaten once this season, but not without difficulty.

Where are they from?

Alavés are from the picturesque city of Vitoria (or Gasteiz in Basque), which may not be as large as Bilbao or San Sebastián but is considered the de facto capital of the region because this is where all the major political institutions are based. The team itself are named not after the city, but after the province and historical region of Álava (or Araba in Basque).

History

Although football had been played in the city since the turn of the century, it was not until 1921 that a team called by the English name of Sport Friends opted to form an official society, known from then onwards as Deportivo Alavés.

As well as the self-explanatory El Glorioso, Alavés are also known as the Babazorros, a Basque expression meaning ‘bean-sacks’. Though originally used to mock the people of this region, who would allegedly eat beans with everything, the club now uses the name with pride.

This is the club’s sixth different spell in the top flight, after they gained promotion last season at the first time of asking after losing their Liga status in 2022.

Although they have never won any major honours, they came close on two famous occasions. In one of the most dramatic European nights ever, Liverpool looked to have had the 2001 UEFA Cup Final done and dusted with a 3-1 lead at half-time. But the Basques battled back. Jordi Cruyff’s late header meant it ended 4-4 to send the game into golden goal extra time, where Delfí Geli’s own goal meant the cup was headed for Merseyside.

In 2017 they reached another final, this time of the Copa del Rey. Despite a spirited start against Barça, they ended up being outclassed to the tune of a 3-1 defeat.

The venue

Opened in 1924, Mendizorrotza is the third oldest professional football stadium in Spain, and since major expansion in 1999, now holds 19,840 people. It's a place where Barça have not lost for 23 years, the last defeat coming all the way back when Carles Reixach was coach, Alavés winning 2-0 with goals from Carles Llorens and Rubén Navarro.

Head to head

Last 5 meetings (all la Liga)
12/11/22 Barça 2-1 Alavés
23/01/22 Alavés 0-1 Barça
30/10/21 Barça 1-1 Alavés
13/02/21 Barça 5-1 Alaves
31/10/20 Alaves 1-1 Barça

Since a shock 2-1 win for Alavés at Camp Nou in 2016, Barça are unbeaten in 12 games against the Basques in LaLiga, including 6-0 and 5-0 wins at Mendizorrotza and 5-1 and 4-1 wins at Camp Nou. In 18 meetings in total, Barça have only failed to score against Alavés once, another unexpected home defeat, this time 1-0, back in 2011.

But the two exceptions have come recently. The sides drew 1-1 at Spotify Camp Nou in 2021, and by the same score in Vitoria a year earlier..

Earlier this season at the Estadi Olimpic, Barça conceded a goal to Alavés in the very first minutes before mounting yet another of their spectacular comebacks, with two goals from Lewandowski in the second half.

Season so far

With just four wins from their first 19 games, things weren't looking too good at all for Alavés, who were staring relegation in the face.

However, there has been a remarkable turnaround in their fortunes in 2024, in which they are still unbeaten in the league, having won their last three games against Sevilla, Cádiz and Almería. All those points have shot them up to 11th, although (like Barça) they crashed out of the cup to Athletic Club.

The players

Alavés have added Carlos Vicente to their squad in the transfer window just ended. The striker arrived from Racing Ferrol for a fee of €600,000 and has already played a total of 288 minutes in the frontline alongside Luis Rioja and Samu Omorodion.

International caps
Ianis Hagi (Romania, 29), Jesús Owono (Equatorial Guinea, 17), Aleksandar Sedlar (Serbia, 2), Nikola Maraš (Serbia, 2), Antonio Blanco (Spain, 1),

Barça Connections
Ianis Hagi, who joined from Rangers last summer, is the son of the Barça and Romania star of the 1990s, Gheorghe Hagi.

The boss

A product of the Atlético Madrid youth system who never played football at a particularly high level, Luis García Plaza then went into management. Last season was the third time he had managed a team to promotion into La Liga, having previously achieved the same with Levante and Mallorca.