Bittor Alkiza

Bittor Alkiza Fernández (born 26 October 1970) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played for both Real Sociedad and Athletic Bilbao as a midfielder.

Born in San Sebastián, Gipuzkoa, Alkiza made his professional debut with local giants Real Sociedad, being promoted to the first team at only 20 and making 105 official appearances in his first three seasons.

[1][3][4] Alkiza was also first choice at the San Mamés Stadium, not scoring so often as the attacking duties in midfield were more often than not the task of future club great Julen Guerrero.

In the 1997–98 campaign, he only missed one La Liga game – 3,146 minutes of action – as the side finished in second place and qualified for the UEFA Champions League.

In the latter competition, even though Athletic ranked last in their group, they did draw 0–0 at home against Juventus FC, the finalists of the previous three editions, with him playing the full 90 minutes.