Ander Murillo García (born 22 July 1983) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a defender. He is the current assistant manager of Athletic Bilbao B.
He spent most of his career with Athletic Bilbao and AEK Larnaca, appearing in 157 competitive matches with the former over nine seasons and 184 for the latter in seven.
Club career Athletic Bilbao Murillo was born in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa. A product of Athletic Bilbao's prolific youth system, he made his debut for their first team on 24 November 2001, in a 2–1 away win against FC Barcelona; he played a further 18 La Liga games the following season, after breaking his leg during preseason.
From 2004 to 2007, Murillo would be an important defensive element for the Lions, being deployed as a right-back or in the middle, but he suffered greatly with injuries subsequently. On 21 December 2008, after nearly a year without competitive appearances, he started in the 1–0 away victory over Real Betis only to leave the pitch before half-time injured.
On 11 August 2009, after only two matches during the 2008–09 campaign, Murillo moved to Segunda División side UD Salamanca in a season-long move. In late August 2010 he terminated his Athletic contract and left the club after 11 years, signing with RC Celta de Vigo also of the second tier.
AEK Larnaca Having joined in the summer of 2011 at the age of 28, Murillo went on to play several years with AEK Larnaca FC in the Cypriot First Division, as part of a large contingent of Spanish players and managers at the side. He helped the club finish second in the league table for three consecutive seasons between 2015 and 2017, their highest-ever placings; his final professional match was the 2018 Cypriot Cup final which was won 2–1 against Apollon Limassol FC (the scorer of the winning goal being another Spanish veteran, Acorán), to collect their first silverware since lifting the same trophy in 2004.
In June 2018, Murillo retired and was named AEK's director of football as longtime Athletic Bilbao teammate Andoni Iraola signed as manager.
Personal life Murillo's father Luciano and his uncle Eliseo were also footballers and defenders who played for Real Sociedad, having moved to San Sebastián at a young age from Extremadura.
Career statistics + Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueCupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBilbao Athletic 2001–02Segunda División B140——140Athletic Bilbao2001–02La Liga11060—1702002–03La Liga18000—1802003–04La Liga4010—502004–05La Liga31050704302005–06La Liga26030—2902006–07La Liga34120—3612007–08La Liga6010—702008–09La Liga2000—20Total1321180701571Salamanca (loan)2009–10Segunda División37030—400Celta 2010–11Segunda División23010—240AEK Larnaca 2011–12Cypriot First Division24060503502012–13Cypriot First Division23030—2602013–14Cypriot First Division29040—3302014–15Cypriot First Division25150—3012015–16Cypriot First Division7030—1002016–17Cypriot First Division20210602702017–18Cypriot First Division1703030230Total14532501401843Career total35144702104194
Honours AEK Larnaca Cypriot Cup: 2017–18
Spain U19 UEFA European Under-19 Championship: 2002
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