He played as aleft winger, and also as aleft-back. He made a name for himself atEspanyol (with whom he won aCopa del Rey and reached the2007 UEFA Cup final) and also played professionally in France, England, Greece, Turkey, Italy and Slovenia, notably spending three years withGalatasaray.
In the summer of 2003, Riera moved toBordeaux.[7] He made 66 competitive appearances for theLigue 1 side over a two-year spell, netting nine times;[8] this included five in a run to the quarter-finals of theUEFA Cup in hisfirst season before elimination by eventual winnersValencia.[9][10][11][12][13]
Riera returned to Spain in 2005, when he signed forEspanyol.[14] In hisfirst season he played only eight league matches, prompting a January 2006 loan move toManchester City[15] where he was also unable to establish himself, scoring his only goal againstNewcastle United in a 3–0 home win on 1 February.[16]
Riera returned toCatalonia prior to2006–07. During that season, Espanyolreached thefinal of the UEFA Cup atHampden Park, Glasgow, where they played fellow SpaniardsSevilla; he scored to level the game at 1–1, but his team eventually lost 3–1 onpenalties.[17] At the end of the campaign, he extended his contract until 2011.[18]
On 1 September 2008 (transfer deadline day), Riera signed a four-year deal withLiverpool for a fee of£8 million, being given the number 11 shirt.[6] He made hisPremier League debut on the 13th, playing 71 minutes of a 2–1 home win againstManchester United,[19] and scored his first goal for the Reds as they beatWigan Athletic 3–2 on 18 October,[20] adding another in the 3–1 victory atPSV Eindhoven in thegroup stage of the Champions League.[21]
On 18 March 2010, Riera was suspended after comments made to the Spanish press regarding his first team opportunities and the approach of managerRafael Benítez. The player was quoted as saying: "He's never sorted out a situation with a player by talking with him."[24] He was transfer listed following the comments, with Russian clubsCSKA Moscow andSpartak Moscow thought to be interested in a permanent move.[25] On the 23rd of that month it was announced that Liverpool had accepted a £6 million bid from CSKA for the player;[26] however, it appeared to be solely rumours, any interest was officially denied[27]– additionally, the player's agent, Ángel Castells, confirmed that only Spartak had made a proposal.[28]
On 23 July 2010, Riera joinedOlympiacos on a four-year contract.[29] The deal was reported to be worth around€6 million (€4 million plus another potential €2 million in bonuses), with a salary of around €2.5 million per season; he became one of the most expensive transfers in the country's history, as he reunited with former Espanyol managerErnesto Valverde.[30]
Riera playing for Galatasaray againstAnkaragücü (2012)
On 3 September 2011, Riera completed a €3 million move to Turkish sideGalatasaray, signing a four-year deal.[34] He scored his first goal in theSüper Lig on 25 January 2012 in a 4–0 home defeat ofAnkaragücü, and was an habitual first-choice in hisfirst season as theIstanbul-based team won the national championship; he was also involved, however, in a punching session with teammateFelipe Melo just before the playoffs started.[35]
Riera scored his first and only goal for Watford on 19 April 2014, in the 3–1 home win overIpswich Town.[40] He had an extended run until late in the month, when he wassent off for two bookable offences in a 3–1 loss atCharlton Athletic after a high challenge onDiego Poyet.[41] After the match, he was charged byThe Football Association for improper conduct, having confronted the officials and having to be dragged away by his team-mates;[42] he was given a two-match ban although only one remained to end the campaign,[43] and he subsequently returned to Udinese.[44]
On 29 November 2014, Riera was sacked by Udinese for attending apoker tournament rather than reporting to play againstChievo,[45][46] also taking toTwitter to insult the organisation.[47] He returned to his first club Mallorca the following 5 March, after agreeing to a one-and-a-half-year deal.[48] In May, he was subjected to disciplinary proceedings after claiming he would not appear again for the team as long asMiquel Soler was the manager.[49]
On 11 September 2015, Slovenian sports newspaperEkipa reported that Riera would sign a contract withZavrč.[50] Three days later, he was officially presented.[51]
Riera terminated his contract on 22 January 2016,[52] but remained in the country as he joinedKoper until June 2018 shortly after.[53] He joined the team also as an assistantsporting director, and made one brief appearance againstPrimorje in the first game of the second half of the season; he was then suspended from training and his contract was cancelled unilaterally in July 2016.[54]
Riera made his debut for theSpain national team on 13 October 2007 in anUEFA Euro 2008qualifier againstDenmark, and scored from outside the box in a 3–1 away win.[55][56] However, he failed to make the final cut for the final stages, where the nation won the tournament.[57]
Riera officially announced his retirement from football on 24 January 2018, through a social media post portraying himself having literally hung up his boots on a tree.[62] He obtained aUEFA Pro Licence in 2019, and in August of the following year he returned to Galatasaray to be an assistant coach to Fatih Terim.[63] In January 2022, he went back to theNef Stadium to work alongside compatriotDomènec Torrent.[64]
Riera eventually led Olimpija to the national championship, clinching their first title since 2018 after defeatingarchrivalsMaribor 2–0 with five rounds to go.[71] He completed thedouble afterdefeating Maribor in theSlovenian Cup with a 130th-minutepenalty kick byTimi Max Elšnik.[72] For his achievements, he was namedManager of the Year; however, at the ceremony, he announced that he had not been offered a new deal and would leave after his contract expired at the end of May.[73][74]
A day after leaving Celje, Riera became the new manager of Bordeaux – now inLigue 2 – returning to the club 18 years after his playing tenure and signing a contract until June 2025.[80] His debut on 21 October was a 2–0 loss atAngers.[81]
Riera led his team to a12th-place finish.[82] However, Bordeaux were administratively relegated to theChampionnat National and declared bankruptcy before the start of the new season.[83]
Riera returned to Celje on 29 July 2024, on a two-year deal.[84][85] Just one day later, he oversaw a 5–0 away defeat againstSlovan Bratislava in theChampions League second qualifying round, being eliminated 6–1 on aggregate; this was the club's heaviest defeat in European competitions, and also the manager's joint-heaviest in that role.[86][87]
Riera's younger brother,Sito, is also a footballer. He too represented Espanyol, but onlytheir reserves.[88]
In 2009, Riera married Julia Koroleva, fathering three children with his Russian bride.[89] He moved toOmsk inSiberia, where he set up a football academy.[90]
^"Riera vuelve a casa" [Riera returns home] (in Spanish). RCD Mallorca. 5 March 2015. Archived fromthe original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved15 March 2015.
^Uredništvo (26 January 2016)."Rieri pogodba kar do leta 2018" [Riera signed until 2018] (in Slovenian). Nogomania. Retrieved27 January 2016.
^Dominko, Peter (22 July 2016)."Riera ni več član Kopra" [Riera is no longer a member of Koper] (in Slovenian). Slovenski nogometni portal. Retrieved22 July 2016.
^Ortega, Ignacio (19 March 2020)."La vida de Albert Riera en Siberia" [Albert Riera's life in Siberia].Diario de Mallorca (in Spanish). Retrieved30 January 2022.
Denmark
Turkey
Azerbaijan
Macedonia
