Grimaldo, Alejandro

Alejandro began his career at the Valencia football school. In 2008, he entered the youth system of Barcelona . Grimaldo made his debut for the club’s second team on September 4, 2011 in a winning match against Cartagena . He became the youngest player (15 years and 349 days) to ever take to the field in Segund ^{[2] [3]} . In the 2012/13 season, the defender became the team's main player. In early 2013, he received a severe knee injury and was eliminated for a long time. Having recovered from the injury, Grimaldo regained his place in the main team. Before the start of the 2014/2015 season, Luis Enrique took him to the pre-season training camp with the first team of Barcelona. In the 2015/2016 season, Alejandro became the captain of Barcelona B ^[4] .

In December 2015, Grimaldo agreed to transfer to the Portuguese Benfica for 1.5 million euros and joined the new club in January next year ^[4] .

Alejandro played in the junior teams of Spain (under 16 and under 17). With his adult game, he earned an invitation to the Spanish national team (under 19 years old) , as part of which he went to the European Championships in the age category under 19 years of 2012. The Spaniards won their sixth title, and Grimaldo spent seven matches, including the final game with the Greek national team ^[5] .

Benfica (Lisbon)

• Champion of Portugal (3): 2015/16 , 2016/17 , 2018/19
• Portuguese Cup Winner: 2016/17
• Portuguese League Cup Winner: 2015/16
• Portuguese Super Cup Winner (3): 2016 , 2017 , 2019

Spain national team (under 19 years old)

• European Champion (U19) : 2012