Miguel Ángel Sánchez Muñoz

Miguel Ángel Sánchez Muñoz (born 30 October 1975), known as Míchel, is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a left midfielder.

During his 20-year senior career he amassed La Liga totals of 182 games and 25 goals, adding 169/18 in Segunda División and playing mostly with Rayo Vallecano (17 seasons, three spells).

Club career

Míchel was born in Madrid. A product of Rayo Vallecano's youth system, he appeared once for the first team in the 1993–94 season, then alternated between the first and second sides two more years.

After one loan to UD Almería in the third division, Míchel returned to Rayo, being essential as the capital outskirts side finished ninth in the 1999–2000 campaign and qualified for the subsequent UEFA Cup through fair play, where Rayo bowed out in the quarterfinals to fellow La Liga team Deportivo Alavés. The following season he scored a career-best ten goals in 33 games (all starts), as his team ranked 14th.

Míchel moved in 2003 to Real Murcia, being relatively used in his first year, which ended in top flight relegation. He appeared very rarely, however, in his final two seasons, which included a six-month loan spell with Málaga CF in 2004–05, where he was also rarely used.