Cristian Tello

Cristian Tello Herrera (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkɾistjan ˈteʎo eˈreɾa]; born 11 August 1991) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Real Betis.

This article uses Spanish naming customs: the first or paternal family name is Tello and the second or maternal family name is Herrera.
Cristian Tello
Tello playing for Porto in 2014
Personal information
Full name Cristian Tello Herrera
Date of birth (1991-08-11) 11 August 1991
Place of birth Sabadell, Spain
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Forward / Winger
Club information
Current team
 Betis
Number 11
Youth career
1999–2002 Can Rull
2002–2008 Barcelona
2007–2008 → Damm (loan)
2008–2010 Espanyol
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2010 Espanyol B 4 (1)
2010–2012 Barcelona B 39 (9)
2011–2017 Barcelona 59 (11)
2014–2016 → Porto (loan) 36 (7)
2016–2017 → Fiorentina (loan) 52 (6)
2017– Betis 88 (10)
National team‡
2010 Spain U19 3 (0)
2011 Spain U20 5 (1)
2012–2013 Spain U21 12 (2)
2012 Spain U23 6 (0)
2013– Spain 1 (0)
2013– Catalonia 2 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19 July 2020
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 14 August 2013

He spent his youth at Espanyol and Barcelona, playing for both clubs' reserves before breaking through into the first team of the latter. He also spent one and a half seasons in Portugal with Porto and as many in Italy with Fiorentina, returning to Spain with Betis in 2017.

Tello represented Spain at the 2012 Olympics, and was part of the under-21 squad which won the European Championship in 2013. He won his first full cap in 2013.

Club career

Early years / Espanyol

Born in Sabadell, Barcelona, Catalonia, Tello started playing at the age of eight with CFU Can Rull, moving to FC Barcelona shortly after and being loaned to another club in the region, CF Damm, for one year.

In 2008, his contract expired and RCD Espanyol signed him. He made his senior debut in the 2009–10 season, playing four games with the B-team and being relegated from the third division.[1]

Barcelona

In June 2010, Tello moved back to FC Barcelona B, who competed in the second level.[2] On 9 November 2011 he made his debut for Barça's main squad, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away win against CE L'Hospitalet in that season's Copa del Rey;[3] he scored a brace in the second leg, a 9–0 demolition.[4]

Tello made his first La Liga appearance on 28 January 2012, coming on as a substitute for Adriano in the 75th minute of a 0–0 away draw at Villarreal CF.[5] The following weekend, in his first league start, he opened the score in the eighth minute of a 2–1 home victory over Real Sociedad after a through ball by Lionel Messi, and played the entire match.[6]

Tello in action for Barcelona in the 2011–12 Champions League.

On 7 March 2012, Tello replaced Andrés Iniesta early into the second half of a match against Bayer 04 Leverkusen at the Camp Nou, taking his bow in the UEFA Champions League: he scored his first goal within two minutes, after Cesc Fàbregas played him through over the top and he ran from the halfway line to net from just inside the penalty area for the 4–0; six minutes later, from a similar position, he made it 6–0 for the hosts in an eventual 7–1 win (10–2 on aggregate).[7]

Even though his future initially seemed uncertain,[8][9] Tello managed to convince new manager Tito Vilanova and stayed in roster for 2012–13, inclusively going on to start in several games. On 19 September 2012 he scored the opener and assisted Messi in the second goal, in an eventual 3–2 home defeat of FC Spartak Moscow in the campaign's Champions League group stage, where he was also chosen as Player of the match.[10]

On 13 December 2012, Tello signed a new contract with Barcelona, keeping him with the Blaugrana until June 2016.[11] Nine days later he scored after only 30 seconds on the pitch, in the last play of a 3–1 away win against Real Valladolid.[12]

Tello fell further down the offensive pecking order in the 2013–14 season, following the arrival of Neymar.[13][14] He scored his first goal of the campaign on 11 December in a 6–1 home rout of Celtic in the Champions League group stage,[15] and six days later he also found the net, in a 3–0 victory against FC Cartagena in the domestic cup (7–1 on aggregate).[16] In the quarter-finals of the latter competition, away to Levante UD, he profited from three Messi assists to score his first hat-trick as a professional as his team won 4–1.[17]

On 16 July 2014, Tello was loaned to FC Porto of the Primeira Liga in a two-year deal.[18] He scored his first goal for the club on 25 November, entering as a substitute for Ricardo Quaresma and concluding a 3–0 victory at FC BATE Borisov for the Champions League group stage.[19] Five days later, he netted his first league goal, the opener in a 5–0 home win over Rio Ave FC.[20]

Tello scored all of his team's goals as they beat Sporting CP 3–0 on 1 March 2015.[21]

On 22 January 2016, Barcelona and ACF Fiorentina reached an agreement for the loan of Tello until 30 June 2016.[22] He made his Serie A debut on 3 February, starting a 2–1 win over Carpi F.C. 1909 at the Stadio Artemio Franchi, and scored his first goal 18 days later in a 3–2 success at Atalanta BC.[23]

On 16 August 2016, the loan was renewed for the upcoming season.[24]

Betis

On 30 June 2017, Tello joined Real Betis for €4 million (potentially €5 million).[25]

International career
Tello playing for Spain at the 2012 Olympics.

Tello was a member of the Spanish squad that participated in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London,[26] playing all three games in an eventual group stage exit.[27] He made his debut with the full side on 14 August 2013, starting in a 2–0 friendly win in Ecuador.[28]

Career statistics
As of match played 19 July 2020[29][30]
Club Season League Cup[31] League Cup[32] Europe Other Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Espanyol B 2009–10 41—1[lower-alpha 1]051
Total 41—1051
Barcelona 2010–11 0000—00
2011–12 15342—3[lower-alpha 2]2—227
2012–13 22760—4[lower-alpha 2]12[lower-alpha 3]0348
2013–14 22163—2[lower-alpha 2]100305
Total 5911165—94208620
Barcelona B 2010–11 234—234
2011–12 165—165
Total 399—399
Porto (loan) 2014–15 25710308[lower-alpha 2] 1—378
2015–16 11031105[lower-alpha 2]1—202
Total 3674140132—5710
Fiorentina (loan) 2015–16 15200—00—152
2016–17 37400—50—424
Total 52600—50—576
Betis 2017–18 32412—336
2018–19 29460—6[lower-alpha 4]1—415
2019–20 27231—303
Total 8810103—61—10414
Career total 27744308403363034759
  1. Appearance in the 2010 Segunda División B Relegation play-off
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  3. Appearance(s) in Supercopa de España
  4. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Club

Barcelona[33]

International

Spain U21

Individual

References
  1. "Cristian Tello e Isaac Cuenca, la historia de dos carreras paralelas" [Cristian Tello and Isaac Cuenca, the story of two parallel careers] (in Spanish). Cadena SER. 5 February 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
  2. "El Espanyol espera alguna contraprestación a la marcha de Tello al Barça" [Espanyol expect some compensation to Tello's departure to Barça] (in Spanish). Sport. 1 July 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
  3. Otro 'Iniestazo' (Another 'Iniestazo'); Marca, 9 November 2011 (in Spanish)
  4. Escabechina antes de Navidad (Slaughter before Christmas); Marca, 22 December 2011 (in Spanish)
  5. Barca slip up again to lose ground; ESPN Soccernet, 28 January 2012
  6. "Barcelona stay in the hunt". ESPN Soccernet. 4 February 2012. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  7. "FC Barcelona – Bayer 04 Leverkusen: The champions are a goalscoring machine (7–1)". FC Barcelona. 7 December 2012. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 8 March 2012.
  8. La negociación por Tello aún no ha arrancado (Tello negotiations have not started yet) Archived 12 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine; Mundo Deportivo, 22 June 2012 (in Spanish)
  9. El futuro de Tello, una incógnita (Tello's future, in the air) Archived 15 July 2012 at the Wayback Machine; Merca Fútbol, 13 July 2012 (in Spanish)
  10. "Messi's Barcelona show sees off Spartak". UEFA. 19 September 2012. Retrieved 20 September 2012.
  11. "Tello ends uncertainty with new Barcelona deal". UEFA. 13 December 2012. Retrieved 13 December 2012.
  12. "Barcelona stay nine clear". ESPN Soccernet. 22 December 2012. Retrieved 22 December 2012.
  13. "'I can deal with Neymar competition' – Tello". Goal. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  14. "Tello: "No quiero escuchar ofertas, quiero triunfar en el Barça"" [Tello: "I don't want to hear about any offers, I want to make it big in Barça"] (in Spanish). La Ronda. 19 July 2013. Archived from the original on 10 January 2014. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  15. "Neymar treble helps Barcelona canter past Celtic". UEFA. 11 December 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  16. "Felices fiestas para Neymar" [Merry Christmas Neymar] (in Spanish). Marca. 18 December 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2014.
  17. "Messi cocina y Tello se pone las botas" [Messi cooks it and Tello gets fired up] (in Spanish). Marca. 22 January 2014. Retrieved 23 January 2014.
  18. "Transfer news: Barcelona forward Cristian Tello joins Porto on two-year loan deal". Sky Sports. 16 July 2014. Archived from the original on 24 July 2014. Retrieved 16 July 2014.
  19. "Herrera pulls the strings as Porto march on". UEFA. 25 November 2014. Retrieved 25 November 2014.
  20. Vilela, Mounique (30 December 2014). "Porto 5 x 0 Rio Ave: Dragão goleia, mas mantém distância para o líder Benfica" [Porto 5 x 0 Rio Ave: Dragon rout but keep distance to leaders Benfica] (in Portuguese). Goal. Retrieved 1 December 2014.
  21. Ames, Nick (1 March 2015). "Cristian Tello hat-trick sinks Sporting as Porto maintain pressure on Benfica". The Guardian. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  22. "Agreement with Fiorentina for the loan of Cristian Tello". FC Barcelona. 22 January 2016. Retrieved 22 January 2016.
  23. Matar, Daniella (21 February 2016). "Fiorentina wins 3–2 at Atalanta, Roma beats Palermo 5–0". Yahoo!. Retrieved 23 February 2016.
  24. "Agreement between FC Barcelona and Fiorentina for the loan of Cristian Tello". FC Barcelona. 16 August 2016. Retrieved 16 August 2016.
  25. "Cristian Tello completes transfer to Real Betis Balompié". FC Barcelona. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2017.
  26. "Euro 2012 trio Mata, Alba & Martinez in Spain Olympic squad". BBC Sport. 5 July 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  27. "Spain 0–0 Morocco: La Roja fail to fire again to finish bottom of Olympics Group D". Goal. 1 August 2012. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  28. "Taconeo ante Ecuador" [Taconeo against Ecuador] (in Spanish). Marca. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 15 August 2013.
  29. "Cristian Tello". Soccerway. Retrieved 18 April 2014.
  30. Cristian Tello at ESPN FC
  31. Copa del Rey and Taça de Portugal
  32. includes Taça da Liga
  33. Tello Archived 7 June 2013 at the Wayback Machine; FC Barcelona
  34. "Tello eleito o melhor jogador do mês de março" [Tello voted March player of the month] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 15 April 2015. Retrieved 11 December 2019.
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