.jpg) | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Miguel Marcos Madera | ||
| Date of birth | (1985-11-08)8 November 1985 (age 40)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Lena, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| –2003 | Oviedo | ||
| 2003–2004 | Sporting Gijón | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2005 | Sporting B | ||
| 2005–2010 | Sporting Gijón | 138 | (7) |
| 2010–2011 | Birmingham City | 9 | (0) |
| 2011 | →AEK Athens (loan) | 15 | (1) |
| 2011–2014 | Getafe | 54 | (1) |
| 2014–2015 | Maccabi Haifa | 25 | (1) |
| 2015–2020 | Qarabağ | 104 | (16) |
| 2020–2021 | Marino Luanco | 8 | (2) |
| Total | 353 | (26) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Miguel Marcos Madera (born 8 November 1985), commonly known asMíchel, is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played as acentral midfielder.
Having been brought through the youth academy ofReal Oviedo, he played with the first team of rivalsSporting de Gijón in both theSegunda División andLa Liga, before eventually leaving forPremier League clubBirmingham City in January 2010.
He spent the second half of 2010–11 on loan atAEK Athens, before returning to Spain for a three-year spell withGetafe. After a year withMaccabi Haifa, he signed forQarabağ in 2015, with whom he won five consecutiveAzerbaijan Premier League titles and twoAzerbaijan Cups, as well as playing inUEFA competitions. In 2020, he returned to Spanish football withSegunda División B clubMarino Luanco, but retired in mid-season.
Born inLena, Asturias,[2] Míchel emerged throughReal Oviedo'syouth academy and transferred toSporting de Gijón for the 2003–04 season. He helped Sporting's under-19 team win theYouth Champions Cup that year, and was named MVP of the final game.[3]
Míchel started his senior career in 2004, withthe club's reserves. Subsequently, he progressed to the first team, competing in theSegunda División; he played 24 matches in the2005–06 campaign and scored one goal, in a 4–0 away win againstGimnàstic de Tarragona.[4]
In2007–08, Míchel helped theAsturian club return toLa Liga after a ten-year absence. He was handed thevice-captaincy for the start of thefollowing season, and made his debut in the top flight on 31 August 2008, playing 90 minutes in a 2–1 home defeat toGetafe.[5][6] He went on to appear in 30 matches, 24 as a starter, as Sporting avoided relegation on the last matchday.
Speculation had linked Míchel withBirmingham City, newly promoted to the EnglishPremier League, in the summer of 2009,[7] but the transfer was not completed until 11 January 2010, for a fee of£3 million. The player signed a two-and-a-half-year deal, with an option to extend the contract for a further 12 months.[8][9] Spanish journalist andSky Sports punditGuillem Balagué described him as a good passer of the ball, tactically aware and positionally disciplined, and "not scared of the physical side", comparing him in style toJavier Mascherano, but "with a better range of passing".[9]
Míchel made his first appearance in the Premier League on 27 January, replacingJames McFadden in the 73rd minute as Birmingham's 15-game unbeaten run came to an end as they lost 3–0 toChelsea atStamford Bridge,[10] and made his home debut three days later, again as asubstitute.[11] However, the fitness and what managerAlex McLeish described as "stunning" form ofBarry Ferguson in central midfield meant that Míchel was restricted to just nine league appearances, and he was made available for loan in the January 2011 transfer window.[12][13]
In January 2011, Míchel joinedSuper League Greece clubAEK Athens on loan for the remainder ofthe season.[14] He made his debut in a 2–0 away win againstSkoda Xanthi,[15] and on his second appearance, scored a 40-metre (44 yd)free kick againstPanathinaikos in the seventh minute ofstoppage time to take his team through to the semi-finals of the2010–11 Greek Cup, 4–3 on aggregate.[16] AEK went on to win the competition, but Míchel was an unused substitute inthe final.[17]
In August 2011, Míchel played his first 45 minutes for Birmingham in over six months, in a 1–0 pre-seasonfriendly defeat ofCork City. He then returned to La Liga with the Madrid-based Getafe for an undisclosed fee.[18] On 6 November he scored his first goal for the club as, despite having only ten players, they came from behind to beatAtlético Madrid 3–2.[19] He himself wassent off once in each of his three seasons:[6] the first two were straight red cards in away defeats to local rivalsRayo Vallecano,[20][21] and the third was for a second booking in a 4–1 defeat to another team from the capital,Real Madrid.[22] Míchel appeared in 60 competitive games, scoring once, during his three years with Getafe, and was released on 22 August 2014.[23]
Míchel signed a one-year contract withIsraeli Premier League clubMaccabi Haifa in September 2014.[24][25] He made 25 appearances acrossthe campaign, scoring his only goal on 14 December in a 4–0Haifa derby win at rivalsHapoel.[26]
Míchel signed a two-year contract withQarabağ of theAzerbaijan Premier League just ahead of the summer 2015 transfer deadline, and in time to be included in theirEuropa League squad.[27][28] He appeared regularly inhis first year as Qarabağ won a third consecutive championship,[29] and scored four times in fiveAzerbaijan Cup ties – including a goal in the last minute of extra time to decide the final againstNeftchi Baku – as his team completed adouble.[30] He played in 40 matches in all competitions to help Qarabağ achieve another double in the2016–17 season,[1] at the end of which his contract was extended for a further two years.[31]
Míchel played every minute of Qarabağ's six2017–18 Champions League qualifiers as they became the first team from Azerbaijan to reach the group stage of the competition.[1][32]
On 7 June 2019, Míchel signed another two-year contract with Qarabağ.[33]
On 17 July 2020, Míchel left Qarabağ by mutual consent.[34]
On 5 October 2020, Míchel came back to Asturias, after agreeing terms with third-tier clubMarino de Luanco.[35] He played eight matches in theSegunda División B before, in March 2021, he announced his retirement because of physical issues.[36]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Sporting de Gijón[6] | 2005–06 | Segunda División | 24 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07 | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 0 | ||||
| 2007–08 | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 37 | 0 | ||||
| 2008–09 | La Liga | 30 | 0 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 0 | |||
| 2009–10 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 138 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 145 | 0 | ||||
| Birmingham City[1] | 2009–10 | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | |
| 2010–11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | 12 | 0 | |||
| AEK Athens[1] (loan) | 2010–11 | Super League Greece | 15 | 0 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 18 | 1 | ||
| Getafe[1] | 2011–12 | La Liga | 22 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 1 | ||
| 2012–13 | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | ||||
| 2013–14 | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 54 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | — | 60 | 1 | ||||
| Maccabi Haifa[1] | 2014–15 | Israeli Premier League | 25 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 28 | 1 | |
| Qarabağ[1] | 2015–16 | Azerbaijan Premier League | 24 | 4 | 5 | 4 | — | 2[a] | 0 | 31 | 8 | |
| 2016–17 | 25 | 4 | 5 | 1 | — | 10[b] | 2 | 40 | 7 | |||
| 2017–18 | 23 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 12[c] | 3 | 37 | 6 | |||
| 2018–19 | 20 | 5 | 3 | 2 | — | 13[d] | 1 | 36 | 8 | |||
| 2019–20 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 13[e] | 1 | 25 | 1 | |||
| Total | 104 | 16 | 15 | 7 | — | 50 | 7 | 159 | 30 | |||
| Marino de Luanco[6] | 2020–21 | Segunda División B | 8 | 2 | — | — | — | 8 | 2 | |||
| Career total | 353 | 20 | 32 | 8 | 5 | 0 | 50 | 7 | 440 | 35 | ||
AEK Athens
Qarabağ
