Inaki Williams handed an unbelievable look milestone for Athletic Membership this previous weekend after being named within the beginning XI for Sunday’s LaLiga recreation towards Celta Vigo.
Along with his place on the teamsheet confirmed for the fixture, the winger formally handed the six-year mark since he final missed a league match for Los Leones, and he prolonged his personal Spanish top-flight report of consecutive video games to 224.
That is a full 2,191 days with out skipping a single LaLiga recreation via harm, suspension or non-selection — an exceptional achievement for any participant, however particularly for an attacker.
Sadly he was unable to crown his momentous look with a victory to suit as his staff fell to a 2-0 residence defeat to Celta at San Mames which included a ridiculous long-range strike from Fran Beltran (stream the replay on ESPN+ within the U.S.).
Inaki Williams has now performed in each LaLiga recreation for the previous SIX YEARS! ?
224 video games in a row. By no means injured. By no means suspended. By no means neglected.
He must be studied ? pic.twitter.com/angKqgLCL7
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) April 17, 2022
Williams has been the proud proprietor of the report for consecutive appearances made in LaLiga since he registered No. 203 in October, having began his Herculean run on April 20, 2016 with a 1-0 defeat towards Atletico Madrid.
His achievement is made all of the extra noteworthy by the truth that he is nonetheless solely 27 years outdated, that means he hasn’t missed a single league recreation for Bilbao since he turned 21 throughout his first full season as a part of the first-team squad on the Basque membership.
2⃣0⃣3⃣ ? ?̃ ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? @Williaaams45 has turn into the participant with most consecutive @LaLigaEN appearances within the competitors’s historical past.
? https://t.co/fpRXLb4l0J#AthleticAlavés #Williams203 ? pic.twitter.com/1IO0XHphcI
— Athletic Membership (@Athletic_en) October 1, 2021
To place that in perspective, at that time limit Kylian Mbappe had only one senior profession aim to his identify, a 15-year-old Erling Haaland was nonetheless awaiting his first-team debut at hometown membership Bryne and VAR was only a twinkle within the eye of the Worldwide Soccer Affiliation Board.
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In beginning the 1-0 win over Alaves on Oct. 1 final yr, Williams formally surpassed the earlier LaLiga report for consecutive appearances (202 video games) which had been held by former Actual Sociedad defender Juan Larranaga since 1992.
The Bilbao star is in an unique membership of successive-appearance record-holders in Europe’s prime leagues, although the winger is basically rubbing shoulders with goalkeepers who performed into their late 30s and past.
As an example, the Premier League report is held by former United States worldwide Brad Friedel who went 310 straight video games with out lacking a single league fixture, smashing the earlier report (166 video games) alongside the best way earlier than bringing his epic run to an finish on the age of 41 by beginning for Tottenham Hotspur towards Manchester United in September 2012.
Likewise, the Bundesliga report is held by a goalkeeper, specifically Sepp Maier. The Bayern Munich legend performed 442 league video games on the bounce between the 1966-67 and 1978-79 seasons, and he performed in each single recreation in all 13 of these campaigns.
The Serie A report for consecutive appearances is held by the good Dino Zoff, who tended the nets for Juventus 332 occasions between 1972 and 1983.