 López Garai as aCelta player in 2009 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Aritz López Garai | ||
| Date of birth | (1980-11-06)6 November 1980 (age 44) | ||
| Place of birth | Barakaldo, Spain | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1997–1998 | Indartsu | ||
| 1998–1999 | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1999–2001 | Basconia | 68 | (5) |
| 2001–2002 | →Gernika (loan) | 33 | (0) |
| 2002–2005 | Conquense | 103 | (2) |
| 2005–2007 | Salamanca | 73 | (4) |
| 2007–2009 | Castellón | 75 | (4) |
| 2009–2011 | Celta | 76 | (1) |
| 2011–2013 | Córdoba | 80 | (6) |
| 2013–2014 | Sporting Gijón | 14 | (0) |
| 2014 | →Córdoba (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2014 | Córdoba | 6 | (0) |
| 2015 | Rapid București | 17 | (0) |
| 2015 | Doxa | 13 | (0) |
| 2016–2017 | Reus | 52 | (1) |
| Total | 616 | (23) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2017–2018 | Reus | ||
| 2018–2019 | Numancia | ||
| 2019 | Tenerife | ||
| 2020 | Albacete | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Aritz López Garai (born 6 November 1980) is a Spanish former professionalfootballer who played as acentral midfielder, currently amanager.
He amassedSegunda División totals of 325 matches and 13 goals over nine seasons, in representation of six clubs. InLa Liga, he played six games withCórdoba.
In 2017, López Garai started working as a manager.
López Garai was born inBarakaldo,Biscay. An unsuccessful youth graduate ofAthletic Bilbao, he spent the vast majority of his professional career in thesecond andthird divisions.[1]
López Garai representedCD Basconia (Bilbao'sfarm team),Gernika Club,UB Conquense,UD Salamanca,CD Castellón,RC Celta de Vigo,Córdoba CF – two spells – andSporting de Gijón, rarely settling with a team but being always first choice.[2] He signed withAndalusia's Córdoba for the second time in summer 2014 following a short loan spell with the same club from Gijón,[3] and made hisLa Liga debut on 25 August 2014 at the age of 33, starting in a 2–0 away loss againstReal Madrid.[4]
On 28 January 2015, López Garai terminated his contract.[5] Less than one month later, he moved abroad for the first time in his career, joining Romania'sFC Rapid București.[6]
For the 2015–16 campaign, López Garai representedDoxa Katokopias FC in Cyprus andCF Reus Deportiu,achieving promotion to the second division with the latter side. On 15 June 2017, they announced the 36-year-old would retire and become its head coach with immediate effect, replacingReal Zaragoza-boundNatxo González.[7]
On 24 June 2018, López Garai was appointed manager ofCD Numancia after terminating his contract with Reus.[8] He signed a new deal with the former club the following 19 February,[9] but reached an agreement to leave on 11 June.[10]
On 21 June 2019, López Garai was named at the helm ofCD Tenerife still in the second tier.[11] On 17 November, he was dismissed.[12]
López Garai took overAlbacete Balompié of the same league on 14 October 2020 after nearly one year of inactivity, replacing the firedLucas Alcaraz.[13] He was himself relieved of his duties on 6 December, after only winning three points out of the last 27.[14][15]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Basconia | 1999–00[16] | Tercera División | 31 | 3 | — | — | 31 | 3 | ||
| 2000–01[16] | Segunda División B | 37 | 2 | — | — | 37 | 2 | |||
| Total | 68 | 5 | — | — | 68 | 5 | ||||
| Gernika | 2001–02[17] | Segunda División B | 33 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 0 | ||
| Conquense | 2002–03[17] | Segunda División B | 34 | 1 | — | — | 34 | 1 | ||
| 2003–04[17] | Segunda División B | 32 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | 35 | 1 | ||
| 2004–05[17] | Segunda División B | 37 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 44 | 0 | |
| Total | 103 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 113 | 2 | ||
| Salamanca | 2005–06[17] | Segunda División B | 36 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 41 | 2 |
| 2006–07[17] | Segunda División | 37 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 38 | 2 | ||
| Total | 73 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 79 | 4 | ||
| Castellón | 2007–08[17] | Segunda División | 39 | 4 | 0 | 0 | — | 39 | 2 | |
| 2008–09[17] | Segunda División | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 37 | 0 | ||
| Total | 75 | 4 | 1 | 0 | — | 76 | 4 | |||
| Celta | 2009–10[17] | Segunda División | 40 | 1 | 6 | 0 | — | 46 | 1 | |
| 2010–11[17] | Segunda División | 36 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 39 | 0 | |
| Total | 76 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 85 | 1 | ||
| Córdoba | 2011–12[17] | Segunda División | 39 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 45 | 0 |
| 2012–13[17] | Segunda División | 41 | 6 | 6 | 0 | — | 47 | 6 | ||
| Total | 80 | 6 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 92 | 6 | ||
| Sporting Gijón | 2013–14[17] | Segunda División | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |
| Córdoba (loan) | 2013–14[17] | Segunda División | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| Córdoba (loan) | 2014–15[17] | La Liga | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 8 | 0 | |
| Total | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| Rapid București | 2014–15[18] | Liga I | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | |
| Doxa | 2015–16[18] | Cypriot First Division | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 13 | 0 | |
| Reus | 2015–16[17] | Segunda División B | 15 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 19 | 0 |
| 2016–17[17] | Segunda División | 37 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | 37 | 1 | ||
| Total | 52 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 616 | 23 | 28 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 663 | 38 | ||
| Team | Nat | From | To | Record | Ref | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | |||||
| Reus |  | 15 June 2017 | 23 June 2018 | 41 | 11 | 15 | 15 | 29 | 42 | −13 | 026.83 | [19] |
| Numancia | | 24 June 2018 | 11 June 2019 | 43 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 45 | 52 | −7 | 025.58 | [20] |
| Tenerife | | 21 June 2019 | 17 November 2019 | 16 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 18 | 21 | −3 | 018.75 | [21] |
| Albacete | | 14 October 2020 | 6 December 2020 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 14 | −6 | 016.67 | [22] |
| Total | 112 | 27 | 41 | 44 | 100 | 129 | −29 | 024.11 | — | |||