Leonardo Villalba

Leonardo Enrique Villalba (born 29 November 1994) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a winger for Tristán Suárez.[3]

Leonardo Villalba
Personal information
Full name Leonardo Enrique Villalba
Date of birth (1994-11-29) 29 November 1994
Place of birth El Colorado, Argentina
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger[2]
Team information
Current team
 Tristán Suárez
Youth career
2009–2013 Vélez Sarsfield
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2017 Vélez Sarsfield 18 (0)
2015–2016 → Panionios (loan) 17 (1)
2016–2017 → Douglas Haig (loan) 30 (7)
2017–2018 Flandria 12 (0)
2018–2019 Defensa y Justicia 0 (0)
2018–2019 → Sarmiento (loan) 28 (4)
2019 Central Córdoba 6 (0)
2020 Lamia 12 (1)
2021 UTC Cajamarca 22 (1)
2022– Tristán Suárez 9 (0)
International career
2011 Argentina U17 6 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:37, 4 August 2022 (UTC)

Club career

Vélez Sarsfield signed Villalba in 2009.[4] His first appearance in the Primera División arrived on 11 May 2013 against Arsenal de Sarandí, with Ricardo Gareca substituting him on for the final six minutes of a 2–2 draw.[1][3] He was selected a further twenty-one times in the next three seasons in all competitions, with Villalba also netting his opening goal versus La Emilia in the Copa Argentina in April 2015.[3] In the following July, Villalba was loaned to Super League Greece side Panionios.[3] He remained for the entirety of 2015–16, making his debut in a victory over Panathinaikos in September before scoring against Panetolikos in October.[3]

After twenty-six matches in Greek football, Villalba returned to his homeland with Primera B Nacional's Douglas Haig, on loan, in July 2016.[3] Seven goals, which included a brace of Santamarina, occurred despite the club suffering relegation.[3] Ahead of 2017–18, Villalba switched Vélez Sarsfield for Flandria.[3] He made his bow in a fixture with Juventud Unida on 17 September 2017.[3] Eleven months later, in mid-2018, Villalba moved to the Primera División's Defensa y Justicia.[5][6] However, he was immediately loaned down to the second tier with Sarmiento.[3] He scored three goals in his first fifteen games for the Junín team.[3]

In July 2019, Villalba penned terms with newly-promoted Primera División outfit Central Córdoba.[7] Six appearances followed, though just one was as a starter as he left five months after joining.[3] January 2020 saw Villalba complete a return to Greece with Super League team Lamia.[8] He netted once in the league, which occurred on 8 June during a fixture with Panetolikos; the same opponents of his only goal for Panionios in 2015–16.[3] He also scored in a Greek Cup quarter-final defeat to Olympiacos in February.[3] Villalba mutually terminated his Lamia contract on 14 December 2020.[9]

On 4 January 2021, Villalba headed to Peru with UT Cajamarca; managed by Ricardo Gareca, who gave the winger his debut in senior football back in May 2013.[10] He left the club at the end of 2021. In January 2022, Villalba returned to his homeland and joined Tristán Suárez.[11]

International career

In 2011, Villalba won six caps for Argentina at the South American U-17 Championship in Ecuador; as his nation finished third.[3][12]

Career statistics
As of 6 January 2021.[3]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Vélez Sarsfield 2012–13 Argentine Primera División 1000—000010
2013–14 4000—2[lower-alpha 1]00060
2014 5000——0050
2015 8011——1[lower-alpha 2]0101
2016 0000——0000
2016–17 0000——0000
Total 18011—2010221
Panionios (loan) 2015–16 Super League 17150——4[lower-alpha 3]0261
Douglas Haig (loan) 2016–17 Primera B Nacional 30710——00317
Flandria 2017–18 12000——00120
Defensa y Justicia 2018–19 Argentine Primera División 000000000000
Sarmiento (loan) 2018–19 Primera B Nacional 28400——00284
Central Córdoba 2019–20 Argentine Primera División 600000—0060
Lamia 2019–20 Super League 8121——00102
2020–21 4000——0040
Total 12121——00142
UT Cajamarca 2021 Peruvian Primera División 6000—000060
Career total 123149200205013916
  1. Appearance(s) in the Copa Libertadores
  2. Appearance(s) in the Argentine Primera División play-offs
  3. Appearance(s) in the Super League play-offs

References
  1. "Ficha Estadistica de LEONARDO VILLALBA". BDFA. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  2. "Leonardo Villalba". World Football. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  3. "Argentina - L. Villalba". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  4. "La cantera sigue aportando". Vélez Sarsfield. 24 January 2014. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  5. "Leonardo Villalba se sumó a Sarmiento". Junin Digital. 15 August 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  6. "Leonardo Villalba: "En el fútbol argentino si no corrés no sirve nada"". La Verdad. 19 August 2018. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
  7. "Leonardo Villalba, el nuevo refuerzo de Central Córdoba". Diario Panorama. 12 July 2019. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  8. "Λαμία: Ανακοίνωσε τον Βιγιάλμπα". Sport24. 21 January 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  9. "Βιγιάλμπα τέλος για Λαμία". athlitiko. 14 December 2020. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  10. "UTC fichajes 2021 volante argentino Leonardo Villalba que fue pupilo de Ricardo Gareca en Vélez Sarsfield". Líbero. 4 January 2021. Retrieved 6 January 2021.
  11. Llegó el quinto al Lechero, bnpartidos.com.ar, 18 January 2022
  12. "Leo Villalba, un coloradense en la Selección Argentina Sub 17". El Comercial. 7 September 2010. Retrieved 27 March 2019.
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