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Alvaro Morata’s iconic moments for Real Madrid, Juventus, Spain and more

Alvaro Morata has plied his trade for a number of Europe’s top clubs, winning some of the continent’s most celebrated trophies.

As a son of Madrid and product of Real's famed La Fabrica academy, Alvaro Morata has followed in the footsteps of some of his country's brightest and best soccer talent.
Spain's second-highest goalscorer of all time, Raul, is a La Fabrica alumnus. So too is goalkeeper Iker Casillas, holder of the record for the most clean sheets for Spain.

Morata himself has exactly half the number of goals for La Roja that Raul does, but on his current conversion rate, he will surpass his fellow Madridista in fewer games, and may even challenge David Villa for top spot.

Morata's goalscoring ability has earned him moves to the European elite, from Real and Atletico Madrid in his homeland to Juventus in Italy and Chelsea in England.

Planet Sport picks out some of his most memorable career moments.

Early international success

Morata burst onto the scene at the tender age of 18, when he helped Spain to Under-19 European Championship glory in 2011. Held in Romania, the competition featured eight teams split into two groups of four, with Spain drawn to face Belgium, Serbia and Turkey.
Spain finished atop Group B with two wins and Morata hit the ground running with a goal against Belgium as Gines Melendez's men won 4-1, before he added a hat-trick in a 4-0 demolition of Serbia.
He then struck twice more in the semi-final as the Republic of Ireland were emphatically beaten 5-0, before playing the full two hours of the final as Spain triumphed in extra time with a 3-2 win over the Czech Republic.
Alongside being named in the Team of the Tournament, Morata's six goals saw him win the Golden Boot, and a country awash with soccer legends was suddenly aware that the next generation had arrived.

Winning the Champions League at 21

Domestically, Morata also wasted little time in making himself known, making five appearances in Real's first successful Champions League campaign in 12 years.
Los Blancos had become fervent in their search for their 10th continental title, their so-called La Decima, and they finally achieved it in Lisbon on the night of May 24, 2014.

Morata played the final 11 minutes of normal time, plus the extra half an hour, after coming on for Karim Benzema, as Real made history with victory over city rivals Atletico.

The date, the scoreline of 4-1, and the circumstances, as Real were seconds away from losing before a 93rd-minute header from Sergio Ramos, will all be etched in the memory of Madridistas.

Back-to-back Italian doubles

Just months later, Morata transferred across the Pyrenees to Turin to join Juventus for a fee of €20million, signing a five-year deal with the Old Lady.
He earned instant success, netting eight goals as Juve won their fourth Serie A in a row and 31st overall, and also scored twice in four Coppa Italia games as Massimiliano Allegri's men also lifted that trophy with victory over Lazio in the final.
In addition, Morata scored in both the home and away legs of a Champions League semi-final victory over his former club Real Madrid as Juventus made it to the final, not celebrating on either occasion.
His Madrid connections still very evident, it may have stung for Morata that Juve were defeated by Barcelona in the final in Berlin, but a goal in the showpiece, followed by another Serie A and Coppa double the following year, will have exorcised any demons.

Champion of the world and more European success

Real had inserted a buy-back clause into the deal with Juventus, and exercised it in 2016, re-signing their former striker for €30million. With Madrid having again won the Champions League in 2016, Morata made his second debut when he started the UEFA Super Cup clash with Europa League winners and compatriots Sevilla.

Real won 3-2, handing them their third Super Cup, and as a result of their Champions League success a season prior, would also fly to Japan to take part in the FIFA Club World Cup in December.

Morata was named as part of Zinedine Zidane's 23-man touring party, and played in both the semi-final, a 2-0 win over Mexico's Club America, and the final, a 4-2 victory against Kashima Antlers of Japan, being named club champions of the world.

Real would then go on to finish three points clear of Barcelona at the top of La Liga, Morata netting 15 goals, and defend their Champions League title with a 4-1 win over Morata's former club Juventus in Cardiff.
Morata hit three goals across nine games in that successful continental campaign, striking in wins over Sporting Lisbon and Legia Warsaw in the group stage, and then against Napoli in the last 16.
Still only 24, Morata was already a double European champion, and even greater individual honours beckoned.

Becoming the most expensive Spaniard ever

To be your country's most expensive soccer player carries both honour and expectation in equal measure, and those two tags weigh rather more when you are Spain's most expensive ever, a country renowned for having produced legendary talent.
That weight of expectation befell Morata when he signed for Chelsea in summer 2017 for £60million, beating the previous record for a Spaniard - Fernando Torres, who also moved to Chelsea - by £10million.

His first season yielded 15 goals in all competitions, and he picked up his first piece of silverware in England when Chelsea defeated Manchester United 1-0 in the FA Cup final.

Morata had previously sealed the Blues' safe passage to the final with the second goal of a 2-0 semi-final win over Southampton, alongside netting the opener of a 2-1 quarter-final victory away to Leicester.

The transfer record has since been broken, and currently belongs to another Chelsea player, goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, who moved to London from Bilbao for £72million a year after Morata.

Euros semi-finalist

Now once more of Juventus, Morata returned to Wembley Stadium, the scene of that FA Cup triumph, when Spain made it to the semi-finals of Euro 2020 to face Italy.

It marked the furthest point in a senior international tournament that Morata had reached, but it was scarcely easy. Spain had drawn their opening two group games, 0-0 against Sweden and 1-1 against Poland, respectively, and sat third going into the final round of fixtures, trailing the Swedes by two points and Slovakia by one.

Any notion that La Roja would not qualify for the knockout stage was swiftly dispelled as Slovakia were seen off 5-0 in Seville, sealing a second-placed finish and setting up a last-16 clash with Croatia.

Spain fell behind to an own goal, but recovered to lead 3-1 with five minutes to go. However, a stunning conclusion saw Croatia level the match in the 92nd minute to force extra time.

Although Spain dug deep to finally triumph 5-3, with Morata netting the fourth, it remained to be seen how much the encounter had taken out of them when they faced Switzerland in the quarter-finals.

Physically, the answer seemed to be a great deal, but conversely, mentally the answer was not much. Again, they were forced to play 120 minutes as the Swiss earned a 1-1 draw, but again they were able to show great strength to triumph 3-1 on penalties in St Petersburg.

Then came Italy, and although Morata netted in the 80th minute to become his country's record goalscorer at the European Championships and cancel out Federico Chiesa's opener, Spain were ultimately seen off on penalties.

Morata saw his spot-kick saved by Gianluigi Donnarumma before Jorginho sent Italy into the final, and ultimately Euros glory.

However, a nation inexorably linked with soccer had been made proud, and with Luis Enrique's cohort the youngest squad in the tournament, the future is bright, just as it was ten years ago in Romania.

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