David Alaba

David Olatukunbo Alaba (born 24 June 1992) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for La Liga club Real Madrid and captains the Austria national team.

Considered one of the best defenders in the world, he is renowned for his versatility, technical skills and ability to contribute effectively in both defensive and offensive roles on the field.

He rose through the ranks quickly, and in April 2008 he was named on the first-team substitutes' bench for an Austrian Bundesliga match.

He also played five times for Austria Wien's reserve team, before leaving in summer 2008 to join German Bundesliga side Bayern Munich.

Alaba started out in Bayern's youth system before being promoted to the reserve team for the 2009–10 season.

Alaba is Austria's second youngest player to play for their senior national team, debuting for them in 2009 as a 17-year-old.

He started out in Bayern's youth system, playing for the under 17 and under 19 teams, before being promoted to the reserve team for the 2009–10 season.

He made his debut in a 3. Liga match against Dynamo Dresden in August 2009 and scored his first professional goal for FC Bayern Munich II on 29 August 2009.

He was named in Bayern Munich's squad for the 2009–10 UEFA Champions League, where he was assigned the shirt number 27.

In January 2010, it was announced that Alaba would train with the first team for the rest of the 2009–10 season, along with reserve teammates Diego Contento and Mehmet Ekici.

The trio were named on the first-team substitutes' bench for the first time on 10 February 2010, for a DFB-Pokal game against SpVgg Greuther Fürth, and Alaba came on in the 59th minute, replacing Christian Lell.

After one minute on the pitch, and with his second touch of the game, he set up Franck Ribéry to give Bayern a 3–2 lead, in a match they went on to win 6–2.

He also became Bayern's youngest ever player in a competitive fixture, at 17 years, 7 months and 8 days old.

In January 2011, Alaba joined TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season.

He returned to Bayern at the start of the 2011–12 season, where he went on to become a regular member of the first-team squad.

He was voted Austrian Footballer of the Year on nine occasions (including six consecutive times from 2011 to 2016).

Born in Vienna, Alaba began his career with SV Aspern, his local club in Aspern, in the Vienna district Donaustadt, before joining the youth setup of FK Austria Wien at age 10.

In January 2011, Alaba joined TSG 1899 Hoffenheim on loan until the end of the 2010–11 season.

Later that month, he scored his first-ever goal in the Bundesliga in a 2–2 draw with FC St. Pauli.

Alaba returned to Bayern at the start of the 2011–12 season, where he became a regular member of the first-team squad.

On 23 October 2011, Alaba scored his first league goal for Bayern in the 1–2 away loss against Hannover 96.

On 20 December, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the first time.

During the second half of the 2011–12 Bundesliga season, he established himself as a starter for Bayern.

On 25 April 2012, he played in the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against Real Madrid, and scored Bayern's first kick of the shootout as they won 3–1 on penalties.

However, due to being booked in the semi-final, Alaba was unable to play in the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final through suspension.

On 5 December, Alaba scored his first Champions League goal in a 4–1 win over BATE Borisov in the 2012–13 season.

On 18 December, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the second year running.

Alaba made over 400 appearances for Bayern Munich, winning 27 honours including ten Bundesliga titles and two UEFA Champions League titles in 2013 and 2020, both as part of trebles.

During his time in Germany, he was named in the UEFA Team of the Year three times.

In 2021, Alaba signed for Real Madrid; he won the 2021–22 La Liga, Supercopa and Champions League title in his debut season.

On 2 April 2013, Alaba scored the seventh-fastest goal (25.02 seconds) in Champions League history to set Bayern on their way to a 2–0 win over Juventus.

On 25 May, he played the full 90 minutes at left-back as Bayern beat Borussia Dortmund 2–1 in the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final.

During the 2013–14 season, he played in the 2013 DFL-Supercup against Borussia Dortmund, the UEFA Super Cup against Chelsea, and two matches in the FIFA Club World Cup; the first against Guangzhou Evergrande and the second against Raja Casablanca.

On 2 December 2013, Alaba signed a new contract with Bayern Munich, which would expire in 2018.

On 20 December, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the third year running.

In January 2014, Alaba was named as the left-back in the UEFA Team of the Year 2013 for the first time.

On 18 December 2014, Alaba was named Austrian Footballer of the Year for the fourth year running.

In January 2015, he was voted as the left-back in the UEFA.com Team of the Year 2014 by users (352,070 votes) for the second consecutive year.

On 31 March, Alaba suffered a medial ligament damage in his left knee during Austria's 1–1 friendly draw with Bosnia and Herzegovina.

He has earned over 100 caps and represented his country at UEFA Euro 2016 and UEFA Euro 2020.