In a professional career that spanned nearly two decades, he went on to amass La Liga totals of 282 matches and ten goals over 12 seasons, also representing in the competition Numancia, Levante, Betis, Sporting de Gijón and Elche.
A product of Real Madrid's youth academy, he made his first-team debut aged only 17 (his only appearance for the main squad during 1994–95), scoring in a 2–0 away win against RC Celta de Vigo with the La Liga title race already decided in their favour while becoming the youngest player to score in an official match in the club's history at the age of 17 years and 114 days.
[2] After helping the Soria side barely avoid top-division relegation he returned to Real Madrid, where he was featured in two additional league games the following season; in January 2002 he had another loan spell, with Ligue 1 side Olympique de Marseille to where he moved alongside Alfonso Pérez from FC Barcelona,[3] and appeared regularly for the French team until the end of the campaign, in an eventual ninth-place finish.
[5] In mid-June 2009, after rejecting Betis' offer of a new deal, and with the Andalusians having been relegated, Rivera signed a one-year contract with fellow top-tier club Sporting de Gijón – with the option for a further two – which had barely retained its status, arriving on a free transfer and reuniting with former Levante boss Manolo Preciado.
[7] Rivera appeared in an average of 31 games during his spell in Asturias, suffering top-flight relegation in his third and final year.