David Barral

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Barral and the second or maternal family name is Torres.

David Barral Torres (born 10 May 1983) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a striker.

David Barral

Personal information
Full name	David Barral Torres[1]
Date of birth	(1983-05-10) 10 May 1983 (age 41)[1]
Place of birth	San Fernando, Spain
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)	Striker
Youth career
	San Servando
1999–2002	San Fernando
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2002–2003	Real Madrid C
2003–2006	Real Madrid B	53	(9)
2003–2004	→ Fuenlabrada (loan)	34	(17)
2006–2012	Sporting Gijón	201	(48)
2012–2013	Orduspor	27	(4)
2013–2015	Levante	67	(18)
2015	Al Dhafra	10	(3)
2016–2017	Granada	22	(0)
2017	APOEL	12	(3)
2017–2018	Cádiz	28	(6)
2018	Tokushima Vortis	16	(9)
2019–2020	Racing Santander	26	(7)
2021–2022	Internacional Madrid	42	(11)
Total		538	(135)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

He achieved La Liga totals of 221 games and 46 goals over eight seasons, with Sporting de Gijón, Levante and Granada. He added 136 matches and 30 goals in the Segunda División, and also played professionally in Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Cyprus and Japan.

Club career

Born in San Fernando, Cádiz, Andalusia, Barral started playing professionally in the lower divisions, with Real Madrid's B and C teams, with a loan stint at neighbouring CF Fuenlabrada in between.^[2] In the 2006–07 season he moved to Sporting de Gijón where, in his second year, he formed a formidable attacking partnership with Mate Bilić (arrived in January 2008) to help the Asturias side to return to La Liga after a 10-year absence.^[3]

Barral scored his first top-flight goal on 26 October 2008, from a penalty in a 3–0 away win against Deportivo de La Coruña.^[4] During the campaign he again paired up with Bilić for a total of 22 league goals,^[5] and scored a crucial one in the last matchday – a 2–1 home victory over Recreativo de Huelva – as Sporting avoided relegation.^[6]

On 20 March 2010, Barral scored at former club Real Madrid: he beat the offside trap and cut inside from the right hand, before firing past Iker Casillas for the game's first, but the hosts turned the score around for a final 3–1 win.^[7]

In 2010–11, Barral continued to battle with Bilić for first-choice status,^[2] with Sporting also having acquired Gastón Sangoy; coach Manuel Preciado often fielded only one striker. On 15 January 2011, in the 19th round, he opened his account, at home against Hércules CF (2–0).^[8] In the next league match, also at El Molinón, he also found the net, for the game's only goal against Atlético Madrid.^[9] The following month, he helped his team to a 1–1 home draw with FC Barcelona after a fine individual effort early in the first half.^[10]

In the 2011–12 season, Barral scored nine goals from 30 appearances (best in the squad), but it was not enough to prevent Sporting from being relegated after five years.^[11] On 5 July 2012, aged 29, he moved abroad for the first time, signing with Orduspor of the Turkish Süper Lig.^[12]

Barral returned to his homeland in the summer of 2013, penning a two-year deal with Levante UD.^[13] On 7 February 2015, he became the first national player to score a hat-trick in a year after Athletic Bilbao's Aritz Aduriz, in a 4–1 home win over Málaga CF.^[14][15]

On 5 July 2015, Barral signed for Al Dhafra FC in the United Arab Emirates after his contract with Levante expired.^[16] On 24 January of the following year, he returned to Spain and its top division after agreeing to an 18-month deal at Granada CF.^[17]

After being involved in a scuffle with teammate Isaac Cuenca during a meal at the club's sports city, in late November 2016, Barral was suspended indefinitely.^[18] On 16 January 2017, he signed an 18-month contract with Cypriot First Division champions APOEL FC.^[19] He scored twice on his debut six days later, in his team's 7–0 home defeat of AEZ Zakakiou for the domestic league.^[20]

On 27 May 2017, Barral's contract was mutually terminated,^[21] and he joined Cádiz CF on a one-year deal on 12 July.^[22] Still in that year, on 19 November, he scored in his very first match at Sporting's home ground after leaving, helping the visitors to a 3–0 victory.^[23]

On 15 January 2019, after a brief spell in the J2 League with Tokushima Vortis, the 35-year-old Barral returned to Spain and signed with Racing de Santander until 30 June.^[24] He achieved promotion to the second tier in his first season, scoring six goals.^[25]

Barral joined third-tier Internacional de Madrid on 19 January 2021, becoming the first player ever to be bought using cryptocurrency as Bitcoin was used to sign him instead of conventional currency.^[26] In summer 2022, as the club was dealing with serious bureaucratic and financial problems, he announced his retirement.^[27]

International career

Barral was not capped by Spain at any level. He played for the Andalusia autonomous team on 7 June 2013 against their Madrid equivalent on the centenary of the latter's Football Federation, and scored both goals of a 2–1 win in Vallecas.^[28]

Career statistics

As of match played 9 May 2021

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Real Madrid B	2004–05[29]	Segunda División B	26	6	—		—		2[a]	0	28	6
	2005–06[29]	Segunda División	27	3	—		—		—		27	3
	Total		53	9	0	0	0	0	2	0	55	9
Fuenlabrada (loan)	2003–04[29]	Segunda División B	34	17	—		—		—		34	17
Sporting Gijón	2006–07[29]	Segunda División	37	9	1	1	—		—		38	10
	2007–08[29]		32	11	1	0	—		—		33	11
	2008–09[29]	La Liga	35	10	6	4	—		—		41	14
	2009–10[29]		33	4	1	1	—		—		34	5
	2010–11[29]		34	5	1	1	—		—		35	6
	2011–12[29]		30	9	2	0	—		—		32	9
	Total		201	48	12	7	0	0	0	0	213	55
Orduspor	2012–13[30]	Süper Lig	27	4	2	2	—		—		29	6
Levante	2013–14[29]	La Liga	32	7	4	1	—		—		36	8
	2014–15[29]		35	11	3	2	—		—		38	13
	Total		67	18	7	3	0	0	0	0	74	21
Al Dhafra	2015–16[30]	UAE Pro League	10	3	5	3	—		—		15	6
Granada	2015–16[29]	La Liga	14	0	0	0	—		—		14	0
	2016–17[29]		8	0	0	0	—		—		8	0
	Total		22	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	22	0
APOEL	2016–17[30]	Cypriot First Division	12	3	3	2	3[b]	0	—		18	5
Cádiz	2017–18[29]	Segunda División	28	6	6	3	—		—		34	9
Tokushima Vortis	2018[30]	J2 League	16	9	0	0	—		—		16	9
Racing Santander	2018–19[29]	Segunda División B	14	6	0	0	—		4[a]	0	18	6
	2019–20[29]	Segunda División	12	1	1	0	—		—		13	1
	Total		26	7	1	0	0	0	4	0	31	7
Internacional Madrid	2020–21[29]	Segunda División B	13	2	0	0	—		—		13	2
Career total			509	126	36	20	3	0	6	0	554	146

1. Appearances in Segunda División B play-offs
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

APOEL

• Cypriot First Division: 2016–17^[31]

References

1. "Barral". Diario AS. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
2. Rosety, Manuel (20 August 2006). "Olfato de gol" [Scoring touch]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 July 2012.
3. Calleja, José Luis (16 June 2008). "El Sporting regresa a la élite" [Sporting return to the elite]. Mundo Deportivo (in Spanish). Retrieved 27 June 2014.
4. "El Sporting resuelve en Riazor (0–3)" [Sporting get job done in Riazor (0–3)]. La Nueva España (in Spanish). 26 October 2008. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
5. Rosety, Manuel (20 June 2009). "Barral y Bilic mejoran los números de Braulio" [Barral and Bilic better Braulio's numbers]. Diario AS (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 October 2019.
6. "Sporting Gijón 2–1 Recreativo Huelva". ESPN Soccernet. 31 May 2009. Archived from the original on 2 November 2012. Retrieved 16 August 2011.
7. "Real Madrid rally to move clear of Barcelona in Spanish league". CNN. 20 March 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
8. "Sporting climb out of danger". ESPN Soccernet. 15 January 2011. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
9. "Barral the hero". ESPN Soccernet. 23 January 2011. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 27 March 2011.
10. "Gijon hold Barca". ESPN Soccernet. 12 February 2011. Archived from the original on 24 October 2012. Retrieved 13 February 2011.
11. Gutiérrez, Javier (17 November 2017). "El regreso de David Barral a Gijón" [The return of David Barral to Gijón]. La Voz de Asturias (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 October 2019.
12. "Orduspor muradına erdi!" [Orduspor get it done!] (in Turkish). Ajansspor. 5 July 2012. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2012.
13. "El Levante ficha a Barral" [Levante sign Barral]. Las Provincias (in Spanish). 26 June 2013. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
14. Egea, Pablo (7 February 2015). "Barral devuelve la alegría al Levante" [Barral makes Levante smile again]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 February 2015.
15. Puig, Darío (9 February 2015). "Especie en extinción" [Endangered species]. Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 24 February 2015.
16. "David Barral firma por el Al-Dhafra" [David Barral signs for Al-Dhafra]. Marca (in Spanish). 5 July 2015. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
17. "¡David Barral es rojiblanco!" [David Barral is red-and-white!] (in Spanish). Granada CF. 24 January 2016. Archived from the original on 27 January 2016. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
18. "Pelea entre Barral y Cuenca... durante la comida" [Fight between Barral and Cuenca... during meal time]. Marca (in Spanish). 23 November 2016. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
19. Σύναψη συμφωνίας με David Barral [Contract signing with David Barral] (in Greek). APOEL FC. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 16 January 2017.
20. ΑΠΟΕΛ 7–0 ΑΕΖ Ζακακίου [APOEL 7–0 AEZ Zakakiou] (in Greek). APOEL FC. 22 January 2017. Retrieved 22 January 2017.
21. "Κοινή συναινέσει λύση συνεργασίας με David Barral" [Mutual contract termination with David Barral] (in Greek). APOEL FC. 27 May 2017. Retrieved 27 May 2017.
22. "David Barral, segundo fichaje para el nuevo proyecto" [David Barral, second signing for the new project] (in Spanish). Cádiz CF. 12 July 2017. Retrieved 13 July 2017.
23. Robledo, Víctor M. (20 November 2017). "La venganza del ídolo caído" [The revenge of the fallen idol]. El Comercio (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 October 2019.
24. López Sanfeliu, Álex (15 January 2019). "El exgranota David Barral ficha por el Racing de Santander" [Former granota David Barral signs for Racing de Santander] (in Spanish). El Desmarque. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
25. "Ex Sporting: Barral y Cayarga ascienden con el Racing" [Ex Sporting: Barral and Cayarga promote with Racing]. La Voz de Asturias (in Spanish). 2 June 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
26. "David Barral se convierte en el primer fichaje de la historia en criptomonedas" [David Barral becomes the first cryptocurrency signing in history]. Marca (in Spanish). 15 January 2021. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
27. Bea, Cristina (28 February 2023). "Barral y el Madrid Galáctico: "No me había echado perfume en la vida, abrí la taquilla de Beckham y dije: esta es la mía"" [Barral and Galactic Madrid: "I had never worn perfume in my life, I opened Beckham's locker and said: that's the one for me"] (in Spanish). Relevo. Retrieved 6 April 2023.
28. "Andalucía festeja con victoria el centenario de la federación madrileña" [Andalusia celebrate with victory on the centenary of the Madrilenian federation]. Marca (in Spanish). 7 June 2013. Retrieved 25 January 2021.
29. David Barral at BDFutbol
30. David Barral at Soccerway
31. "El Apoel de Barral se proclama campeón de liga en Chipre" [Barral's Apoel crowned league champions in Cyprus]. Diario AS (in Spanish). 13 May 2017. Retrieved 11 October 2019.

External links

• David Barral at BDFutbol
• David Barral at J.League (archive) (in Japanese)
• David Barral at FBref.com