Xavier "Xavi" Quintillà Guasch (born 23 August 1996) is a Spanish professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club APOEL.

Club career

Barcelona

Born in

Lleida Lleida (, ; ; '' see below'') is a city in the west of Catalonia, Spain. It is the capital and largest town in Segrià county, the Ponent region and the province of Lleida. Geographically, it is located in the Catalan Central Depression. It ...

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

, Quintillà joined

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

's youth setup in 2009, from hometown

UE Lleida Unió Esportiva Lleida was a Spanish football team based in Lleida, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. It was founded as ''Lérida Balompié-AEM'' on 30 October 1939, and became ''Unión Deportiva Lérida'' in 1947, after a merger with ''C ...

. After finishing his graduation, he was promoted to the reserves in July 2015, after the club's

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. Quintillà made his senior debut on 22 August 2015, starting in a 2–1 loss at

UE Cornellà Unió Esportiva Cornellà, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S. A. D. is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Cornellà de Llobregat, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1951 it plays in , holding home gam ...

. On 26 August of the following year, after contributing with only eight league appearances, he was loaned to fellow third division side Lleida Esportiu for the campaign. On 1 September 2017, Quintillà terminated his contract with ''Barça''.

Villarreal

On 1 September 2017, just hours after leaving Barcelona, Quintillà joined

Villarreal CF Villarreal Club de Fútbol, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D., usually abbreviated to Villarreal CF, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Villarreal, in the Province of Castellón, Castellón province of easte ...

and was initially assigned to the B-team. On 1 November of the following year, he made his first-team debut by starting in a 3–3 away draw against

UD Almería Unión Deportiva Almería, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish professional football club based in Almería, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded on 26 July 1989 and known as ''Almería Club de Fútbol'' until 2001 ...

, for the season's

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. On 30 March 2019 he made his

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

debut, playing all but the final two minutes of a 3–2 loss at

RC Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

. Promoted to the main squad for the 2019–20 season, Quintillà featured sparingly but still renewed his contract until 2023 on 25 February 2020. On 18 August 2020, Quintillà joined

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

side

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

on loan. He scored his first goal in a 3–1 win against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

the following 24 April, and ended his spell at

Carrow Road Carrow Road is a association football, football stadium in Norwich, Norfolk, England, and is the home of EFL Championship club Norwich City F.C., Norwich City. The stadium is east of the city, near Norwich railway station and the River Wensum. ...

as a title winner. Quintillà joined

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

side

Leganés Leganés () is a city in the Community of Madrid, Spain. Considered part of the Madrid metropolitan area, it is located about 11 km southwest of the centre of Madrid. , it has a population of 188,425, making it the region's fifth most popu ...

on a season-long loan deal on 10 July 2021, with an option to buy. He played just over a third of the games in a mid-table finish, scoring once to equalise in a 1–1 home draw with

SD Ponferradina Sociedad Deportiva Ponferradina, S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Ponferrada, in the El Bierzo region, in the autonomous community of Castile and León. Founded on 7 June 1922, it plays in Primera Federación - Group 1, holding home ma ...

on 12 December.

Santa Clara

On 4 July 2022,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

Quintillà signed for two years at C.D. Santa Clara of the Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

Alcorcón

On 11 August 2023, Quintillà returned to Spain and its second division, after signing for

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo Domingo, ...

APOEL

On 5 June 2024, free agent Quintillà signed for one year at APOEL. APOEL FC of the Stoiximan Cyprus League.

Personal life

Quintillà's older brother, Jordi, is also a footballer, who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

. Both were at Barcelona together.

Career statistics

Honours

Barcelona *

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

: 2013–14 Norwich City *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Quintilla, Xavi 1996 births Living people Footballers from Lleida Spanish men's footballers Men's association football defenders La Liga players Segunda División B players Tercera División players FC Barcelona Atlètic players Lleida CF players Villarreal CF B players Villarreal CF players AD Alcorcón footballers English Football League players Norwich City F.C. players Primeira Liga players C.D. Santa Clara players Cypriot First Division players APOEL FC players Spain men's youth international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus 21st-century Spanish sportsmen