On 21 November 2009, Marc Valiente Hernández started for Sevilla FC at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López as the Andalusian side won 2-1 against CD Tenerife. It was his debut in La Liga. Born on 29 March 1987 in Granollers, near Barcelona, he reached that game after coming through FC Barcelona's academy and spending two seasons with Sevilla's reserve team. A centre-back, he played until 2023 in a career that took him through Spain, Israel, Belgium, Serbia and India.
Barcelona academy
Valiente developed in FC Barcelona's youth system. His age group, players born in 1987, shared the academy with Lionel Messi, Cesc Fàbregas and Gerard Piqué. In 2005 he made nine appearances for Barcelona C and moved up to Barcelona B the same year, staying until 2008 and playing 86 league matches with four goals for the reserves. In the summer of 2008 he left the club to join Sevilla Atlético.
Spain youth teams
During his reserve-team years he represented Spain at youth level. With the under-19 side he won eight caps, scored once and lifted the 2006 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Poland. A year later he was part of the under-20 squad at the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, playing five matches. Later, while at Valladolid, he started for Catalonia on 30 December 2013 in an unofficial friendly against Cape Verde that ended 4-1.
Sevilla, from the reserves to the Cup
His first season with Sevilla Atlético ended with the reserve side relegated to the Spanish third tier, Segunda División B. He spent two years with the team, adding 58 league games and one goal, and in 2009-10 he stepped up to the first team. After the debut in Tenerife he played two more league matches: he came on for the injured Adriano in a 1-0 away win over Sporting de Gijón at El Molinón and played the first half of a 4-0 defeat at Camp Nou. He made five official appearances in all for a Sevilla side that won the 2010 Copa del Rey, beating Atlético de Madrid in the final.
Five seasons at Real Valladolid
In 2010 he signed for Real Valladolid, just relegated to the Spanish second division. In his first campaign the team reached the promotion play-offs without going up, and on 19 September 2010 Valiente scored his first professional goal, in a 2-1 away loss to Real Betis. In 2011-12 he played 33 league games, scoring once, as Valladolid returned to the top flight by beating Alcorcón in the play-off final in June 2012. He went on to play 57 La Liga matches for the club. In July 2015 he left after five seasons, 145 league appearances, five goals and 157 official games.
Israel, Belgium and Serbia
On 2 July 2015 he signed a three-year deal with Maccabi Haifa, who paid Valladolid €250,000. In Israel he made 60 official appearances and won the 2016 Israel State Cup. In July 2017 he moved to Belgian club KAS Eupen, and on 4 November 2017 he scored a stoppage-time equaliser in a 4-4 draw away to Sint-Truiden; he finished that season with 33 official games. On 26 June 2018 he agreed a two-year contract with Partizan Belgrade, becoming the club's first Spanish player. In his only season in Serbia he played 41 matches and won the 2019 Serbian Cup.
Sporting de Gijón and FC Goa
On 25 July 2019 he returned to Spain, signing a two-year deal with Real Sporting de Gijón in the second division; the contract was later extended by a further year. He made 59 official appearances in Gijón, scoring two league goals, and left in June 2022 when his deal expired. That summer he joined FC Goa of the Indian Super League, coached by fellow Spaniard Carlos Peña, and played eight league games for them. In May 2023 he ended his professional career with 518 official appearances and 14 goals in total.
