Isaac Cuenca

Isaac Cuenca

Cuenca with Barcelona at the 2011 Club World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Joan Isaac Cuenca López
Date of birth	27 April 1991
Place of birth	Reus, Spain
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 ^1⁄2 in)
Playing position	Winger
Club information
Current team	Granada
Number	19
Youth career
1998–2001	Juroca
2001–2002	Espanyol
2002–2005	Barcelona
2005–2007	Santes Creus
2007–2008	Reus
2008–2009	Damm
2009–2010	Barcelona
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps^†	(Gls)^†
2007	Reus	0	(0)
2010–2012	Barcelona B	6	(2)
2010–2011	→ Sabadell (loan)	32	(5)
2011–2014	Barcelona	16	(2)
2013	→ Ajax (loan)	3	(0)
2014–2015	Deportivo La Coruña	27	(2)
2015–2016	Bursaspor	12	(1)
2016–	Granada	10	(0)
National team
2011	Spain U21	2	(0)
2012	Spain U23	1	(0)
2011	Catalonia	1	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 2 May 2016. † Appearances (goals)

Joan Isaac Cuenca López (born 27 April 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for Granada CF as a winger.

Club career

Early years

Born in Reus, Tarragona, Catalonia, began playing football with local Unió Barri Juroca, going on to have spells with RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona, UE Barri Santes Creus, CF Reus Deportiu and CF Damm before return to La Masia in 2009.^[1][2] He made his senior debuts in the 2010–11 season, being loaned to another club in his native region, CE Sabadell FC in the third division;^[3] he made an immediate impact, starting in 24 of his appearances and totalling 2,288 minutes as the Arlequinats returned to the second level after an 18-year absence.

In July 2011, Cuenca returned to Barcelona and joined its B-team, alongside Martí Riverola.^[4] Shortly after he was called by first-team manager Pep Guardiola to the pre-season, and made his debut on 23 July against HNK Hajduk Split.^[5]

Barcelona

Cuenca made his official debut for Barça B on 4 September 2011, playing the last 29 minutes in a 4–0 away win against FC Cartagena and scoring the last goal of the match.^[6] On 19 October he made his first official appearance for the main squad, coming on as a substitute for David Villa in the dying minutes of a 2–0 home success against FC Viktoria Plzeň for the season's UEFA Champions League.^[7]

On 25 October 2011, after another game on the bench, Cuenca made his La Liga debut, playing the full 90 minutes and being booked in a 1–0 away win against Granada CF.^[8] Four days later, again as a starter, he scored in a 5–0 home success over RCD Mallorca, assisted by Adriano.^[9]

On 3 December 2011 Cuenca netted his second league goal, playing the entire 5–0 home routing of Levante UD.^[10] On 31 January 2012 he signed a contract extension with the Blaugrana, keeping him at the club until June 2015,^[11] and also switched permanently to the first team, being assigned jersey number 23.

Cuenca spent the first half of the 2012–13 season nursing a knee injury.^[12][13] On 31 January 2013, he was loaned to Eredivisie side AFC Ajax until the end of the campaign.^[14] He was given the number 11 shirt, which was previously worn by Lorenzo Ebecilio; that jersey, however, was reserved for league and Dutch Cup matches, while he wore number 28 in the team run in the UEFA Europa League, as Ebecilio had already made continental appearances with the club wearing the former number during the season.^[15]

Cuenca made his debut for his new team 10 February 2013, against Roda JC Kerkrade at the Amsterdam Arena, assisting Daley Blind in his first ever goal for Ajax as the match ended in a 1–1 draw.^[16] However, in March, he suffered another knee injury, being sidelined for a further four months;^[17] he underwent surgery in early June,^[18] returning to training in October.^[19]

Deportivo

On 10 July 2014 Cuenca and Barcelona reached an agreement to rescind the player's contract, due to expire in June 2015, due to technical reasons.^[20] Late in the same day, he signed a one-year deal with fellow league team Deportivo de La Coruña.^[21]

Cuenca made his debut for the club on 23 August, replacing Toché in a 1–2 away loss against Granada, and scored his first goal eight days later, netting a last-minute equalizer in a 2–2 home draw against Rayo Vallecano. The Galicians went on to narrowly avoid relegation, with him starting in 14 of his appearances.

Bursaspor

On 7 August 2015, Cuenca signed a three-year deal with Turkish Süper Lig side Bursaspor.^[22] He scored his fist competitive goal on 28 October, the game's only in a victory over Sivasspor at the Bursa Atatürk Stadium.^[23]

Granada

On 1 February 2016, Cuenca returned to his country and signed with Granada until the end of the season.^[24]

Club statistics

As of 10 January 2016^[25][26]

Club	Season	League		Cup		Europe^1		Other^2		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Sabadell (loan)	2010–11	32	5	—		—		—		32	5
Barcelona B	2011–12	5	2	—		—		—		5	2
Barcelona	2011–12	16	2	6	2	7	0	1	0	30	4
	2013–14	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total	16	2	6	2	7	0	1	0	30	4
Ajax (loan)	2012–13	3	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	5	0
Deportivo	2014–15	27	2	2	0	—				29	2
Bursaspor	2015–16	12	1	7	0	—				19	1
Career total		95	12	15	2	9	0	1	0	120	14

¹ Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches.

² Includes Supercopa de España, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup matches.

Honours

Barcelona

• FIFA Club World Cup: 2011
• Copa del Rey: 2011–12

Ajax

• Eredivisie: 2012–13

References

1. "Reus, la cantera del Barça" [Reus, Barça's youth system] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 27 July 2012. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
2. "Historia de un exilio" [Story of an exile] (in Spanish). El Periódico de Catalunya. 31 October 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
3. "Sabadell: presentado Isaac Cuenca" [Sabadell: Isaac Cuenca presented] (in Spanish). esFutbol. 2 September 2010. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
4. "Martí Riverola e Isaac Cuenca vuelven al Barça B" [Martí Riverola and Isaac Cuenca return to Barça B] (in Spanish). FC Barcelona. 4 July 2011. Retrieved 29 January 2016.
5. El Barça debuta sin dinamita (Barça has unexplosive debut); Marca, 23 July 2011 (Spanish)
6. Vuelve el mejor Barça B con un festival goleador en Cartagonova (The best Barça B returns with a scoring festival in Cartagonova); Marca, 4 September 2011 (Spanish)
7. "Barcelona flex muscles without overwhelming Plzeň". UEFA.com. 19 October 2011. Retrieved 19 October 2011.
8. "Xavi strike sees of Granada". ESPN Soccernet. 25 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
9. "Messi to the fore once again". ESPN Soccernet. 29 October 2011. Retrieved 29 October 2011.
10. "Fabregas bags brace in rout". ESPN Soccernet. 3 December 2011. Retrieved 7 January 2012.
11. Cuenca signs extension to contract; FC Barcelona, 31 January 2012
12. "Isaac Cuenca sale del hospital" [Isaac Cuenca leaves hospital]. Goal.com. 2 June 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
13. "Cuenca returns to training, Alves injury update". Total Barça. 26 November 2012. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
14. "Isaac Cuenca, cedido al Ajax" [Isaac Cuenca, loaned to Ajax] (in Spanish). Marca. 31 January 2013. Retrieved 31 January 2013.
15. "Cuenca krijgt twee rugnummers" [Cuenca gets two shirt numbers] (in Dutch). De Telegraaf. 4 February 2013. Retrieved 4 February 2013.
16. "Unsuccessful mission for Ajax". AFC Ajax. 10 February 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
17. "Isaac Cuenca regresa a Barcelona con su rodilla maltrecha" [Isaac Cuenca returns to Barcelona with his battered knee] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 11 March 2013. Retrieved 23 April 2013.
18. "Isaac Cuenca: "Ya solo pienso en volver a jugar pronto"" [Isaac Cuenca: "I am only thinking about returning to play soon"] (in Spanish). Sport. 7 June 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
19. "Isaac Cuenca, principal novedad en el entrenamiento del Barça" [Isaac Cuenca, main novelty in Barça's training] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 22 October 2013.
20. "Agreement to resind Isaac Cuenca's contract". FC Barcelona. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
21. "Isaac Cuenca nuevo jugador del Dépor" [Isaac Cuenca new player of Dépor] (in Spanish). Deportivo La Coruña. 10 July 2014. Retrieved 10 July 2014.
22. "Isaac Cuenca ile Anlaşma Sağlandı" [Agreement reached with Isaac Cuenca] (in Turkish). Bursaspor. 7 August 2015. Retrieved 7 August 2015.
23. "Bursaspor – Medicana Sivasspor: 1–0" (in Turkish). Milliyet. 28 October 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
24. "Presentación de Costa, Doucouré y Cuenca" [Presentation of Costa, Doucouré and Cuenca] (in Spanish). Granada CF. 3 February 2016. Retrieved 3 February 2016.
25. "Cuenca". Soccerway. Retrieved 31 October 2014.
26. "Isaac Cuenca" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. Retrieved 31 October 2014.

External links

• FC Barcelona official profile
• Isaac Cuenca profile at BDFutbol
• Isaac Cuenca profile at Futbolme (Spanish)