Mathieu Valbuena (born 28 September 1984) is a French professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Greek Super League club Athens Kallithea.

[4] He is described by his former coach at Libourne Saint-Seurin, Didier Tholot, as "an explosive player who is capable of quickly taking two opponents out of the game to create space, above all due to his dribbling skills.

He developed an interest in the sport of football through his paternal heritage as he often attended matches at the Camp Nou in Barcelona during school holidays as a youth.

In 1998, he was given a Best Player award at a local youth tournament played at the Camp des Loges, the training center of professional club Paris Saint-Germain.

In his first season at the club, he struggled for meaningful minutes under coach André Menot, playing in 20 league matches and scoring two goals.

[23] On 29 April 2006, with Libourne in a battle for the final promotion spot, Valbuena scored another double, this time against Toulon in another shutout victory.

[28] He subsequently struggled to meet the demands of training and suffered an ankle injury in the pre-season period, which resulted in the player missing the start of the 2006–07 season.

The game-winning goal allowed the club to maintain control of second place, which merited Marseille a spot in the UEFA Champions League for the first time since the 2003–04 season.

[32] Following the departure of Franck Ribéry to German club Bayern Munich ahead of the 2007–08 season, Valbuena was inserted as his replacement.

It is during this season the midfielder acquired the nickname le petit vélo (the small bike), which is a play on Valbuena's size and his parent club's stadium, the Stade Vélodrome.

[6] Valbuena started the season off healthy under Gerets and featured primarily as a substitute, but by late August 2007, had become a starter forming partnerships in the midfield with Samir Nasri, Lorik Cana, and Benoît Cheyrou.

[6][31] Valbuena made his UEFA Champions League debut on 18 September 2007 against Turkish club Beşiktaş appearing as a substitute in a 2–0 win.

[54][55] In the 2010–11 season, Valbuena was inserted as a starter by Deschamps for the start of the campaign despite the arrivals of wingers Loïc Rémy and André Ayew.

Valbuena was also hampered by the constant media inquiries about what happened at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, on which he has refused to comment, stating "I was a neophyte in the France team, I will not allow myself to discuss the events" and that he was "trying to forget" the incident.

[57] On 23 November, he scored the opening goal in the team's 3–0 win over Russian club FC Spartak Moscow in the Champions League.

[59] On 22 January, Valbuena suffered a medial ligament sprain in his left knee as a result of a tackle from Ayew during a training session.

[60] He was, initially, ruled out for up to six weeks, but returned to training ahead of the team's Champions League match against English club Manchester United on 22 February.

After appearing as a substitute in two consecutive league matches after returning from injury, Valbuena made his first start in a 2–1 win over Le Classique rivals Paris Saint-Germain.

On 6 December, in the team's final group stage match against German club Borussia Dortmund, Valbuena scored the match-winning goal after appearing as a substitute 14 minutes prior.

On 28 August 2014, Dynamo defeated AC Omonia in the 2014–15 UEFA Europa League play-off round, through a decisive goal by Christopher Samba in the 93rd minute of the return leg following a free kick performed by Valbuena, and qualified for the first time for the group stage of a European competition (since the group stage was introduced).

[75] He returned to playing on 2 October 2014 in a Europa League group game against PSV Eindhoven, in which Yuri Zhirkov scored a winning goal deep into injury time after a corner delivered by Valbuena.

On 11 August 2015, Valbuena returned to Ligue 1, signing a three-year contract with former club Marseille's rivals Lyon for a reported fee of €5 million.

[86] On 28 November 2021, Valbuena scored his first goal for the season, with an excellent foul outside the area in the 90th minute, sealing a vital 2-1 home win game against Volos F.C.

[99][100][101][102] After missing the match against Norway due to new manager Laurent Blanc's imposed suspension, Valbuena made his return to the team in a 1–0 defeat to Belarus in UEFA Euro 2012 qualification.

Under new coach Didier Deschamps, Valbuena played in all ten of the team's matches during 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification, scoring once against Georgia.

[109] Valbuena is described by his former coach at Libourne Saint-Seurin Didier Tholot as "an explosive player who is capable of quickly taking two opponents out of the game to create space, above all due to his dribbling skills.

[7] After leaving Bordeaux, Valbuena was primarily deployed in the playmaker position as an attacking midfielder at Langon Castets and Libourne Saint-Seurin.

[5] While at the amateur clubs, Valbuena also honed his quickness, technical ability, and developed his tenacious style of play which contributed to his positive work-rate defensively.

Valbuena's former coach also described the player's tenacious style stating "Whatever the build of the opponent, he will always tackle" and "he also surprised me with the level of his defensive work when he is aligned on the right-hand side".

[111] On 24 December 2010, while traveling to Blanquefort to celebrate Christmas with his parents, Valbuena was involved in a car accident after losing control of his Lamborghini Murciélago while driving near Bègles.