Born in
Albacete,
Castilla–La Mancha, Cifuentes started playing as a senior with local
Albacete Balompié's
reserves. On 15 November 1998, after starter
Julio Iglesias was
sent off early into a home game against
CP Mérida, he made his debut in the
Segunda División with the first team, going on to concede twice in a 0–2 home loss. Cifuentes spent several years of his career in the
Segunda División B, representing in the second tier, other than Albacete,
Ciudad de Murcia,
UD Salamanca,
Real Murcia CF and
Cádiz CF for a total of 293 appearances. In the
2004–05 season he was part of
RCD Mallorca's
La Liga roster, being only third choice behind
Miguel Ángel Moyá and
Sander Westerveld. Cifuentes moved abroad for the first time in summer 2014 at the age of 35, joining a host of compatriots – including manager
Ángel Pérez García – at Polish club
Piast Gliwice. He made his debut in top-flight football on 20 July of that year, starting in a 4–0
Ekstraklasa defeat at
Lech Poznań. He totalled 21 games during his spell, including five for the B side. In July 2015, Cifuentes returned to Spain after signing a contract with
Cádiz CF. He played 42 matches in his
debut campaign, which ended in promotion from division three. Cifuentes rarely missed a game for the
Andalusians the following seasons, notably winning the
Ricardo Zamora Trophy for the category in
2017–18. He was again instrumental as they returned to the top flight in
2020 after 14 years, still under coach
Álvaro Cervera. On 20 September 2020, aged 41, Cifuentes made his Spanish top-tier debut by starting in a 2–0 away win against
SD Huesca, becoming the oldest player to do so in the process. On 5 October, after 209 competitive games for Cádiz, he retired. ==Coaching career==