Early career Born in
Vienna, He also played five times for Austria Wien's
reserve team, before leaving in summer 2008 to join German side
Bayern Munich of the
Bundesliga.
Bayern Munich Youth, reserves and Hoffenheim loan He started out in Bayern's
youth system, playing for the under 17 and under 19 teams, before being promoted to the
reserve team for the 2009–10 season. and scored his first professional goal for FC Bayern Munich II on 29 August 2009. He was named in
Bayern Munich's squad for the
2009–10 UEFA Champions League, where he was assigned the shirt number 27. In January 2010, it was announced that Alaba would train with the first team for the rest of the 2009–10 season, along with reserve teammates
Diego Contento and
Mehmet Ekici. The trio were named on the first-team substitutes' bench for the first time on 10 February 2010, for a
DFB-Pokal game against
SpVgg Greuther Fürth, and Alaba came on in the 59th minute, replacing
Christian Lell. After one minute on the pitch, and with his second touch of the game, he set up
Franck Ribéry to give Bayern a 3–2 lead, in a match they went on to win 6–2. He also became Bayern's youngest ever player in a competitive fixture, at 17 years, 7 months and 8 days old. In January 2011, Alaba joined
TSG Hoffenheim on loan until the end of the
2010–11 season. Later that month, he scored his first-ever goal in the Bundesliga in a 2–2 draw with
FC St. Pauli.
2011–2013 Alaba returned to Bayern at the start of the
2011–12 season, where he became a regular member of the first-team squad. On 23 October 2011, Alaba scored his first league goal for Bayern in the 1–2 away loss against
Hannover 96. On 20 December, Alaba was named
Austrian Footballer of the Year for the first time. During the second half of the
2011–12 Bundesliga season, he established himself as a starter for Bayern. On 25 April 2012, he played in the
2011–12 UEFA Champions League semi-final second leg against
Real Madrid, and scored Bayern's first kick of the
shootout as they won 3–1 on penalties. However, due to being
booked in the semi-final, Alaba was unable to play in the
2012 UEFA Champions League Final through suspension. On 5 December, Alaba scored his first
Champions League goal in a 4–1 win over
BATE Borisov in the
2012–13 season. On 18 December, Alaba was named
Austrian Footballer of the Year for the second year running. On 2 April 2013, Alaba scored the seventh-fastest goal (25.02 seconds) in Champions League history to set Bayern on their way to a 2–0 win over
Juventus. On 25 May, he played the full 90 minutes at left-back as Bayern beat
Borussia Dortmund 2–1 in the
2013 UEFA Champions League Final.
2013–2015 in 2014 During the
2013–14 season, he played in the
2013 DFL-Supercup against
Borussia Dortmund, the
UEFA Super Cup against
Chelsea, and two matches in the
FIFA Club World Cup; the first against
Guangzhou Evergrande and the second against
Raja Casablanca. On 2 December 2013, Alaba signed a new contract with Bayern Munich, which would expire in 2018. On 20 December, Alaba was named
Austrian Footballer of the Year for the third year running. In January 2014, Alaba was named as the left-back in the UEFA Team of the Year 2013 for the first time. On 18 December 2014, Alaba was named
Austrian Footballer of the Year for the fourth year running. In January 2015, he was voted as the left-back in the UEFA.com Team of the Year 2014 by users (352,070 votes) for the second consecutive year. On 31 March, Alaba suffered a medial ligament damage in his left knee during Austria's 1–1 friendly draw with
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Alaba missed the rest of the season for Bayern because of the injury.
2015–2021 In August 2015 against his former club Hoffenheim, Alaba's misplaced pass resulted in
Kevin Volland scoring in nine seconds, the quickest Bundesliga goal of all time. On 17 December, Alaba was named
Austrian Footballer of the Year for the fifth consecutive year. On 8 January 2016, Alaba was voted as the left-back in the UEFA.com Team of the Year 2015 for the third consecutive year. On 18 March, he extended his contract until 2021. On 21 December, Alaba was named
Austrian Footballer of the Year for the sixth year running. On 10 February 2018, Alaba made his 200th Bundesliga appearance in a 2–1 win over
Schalke. During the
2019–20 season, Alaba was converted to the
centre-back position, often partnering up with
Jérôme Boateng, due to an injury crisis. He adapted to the position very well and soon became the leader of the defence. On 23 August 2020, he played the full 90 minutes at centre-back as Bayern beat
Paris Saint-Germain 1–0 in the
2020 UEFA Champions League Final. Bayern Munich went on to have their second treble-winning season after 2012–13, and thereby Alaba securing his second continental treble in his career. After several attempts to extend his contract, Alaba mentioned that Bayern Munich asked him earlier whether he was interested in a swap deal with
Leroy Sané from
Manchester City, which he considered as a "slap in the face". On 16 February 2021, Alaba announced that he would leave Bayern Munich following the
2020–21 season after thirteen years with the club.
Real Madrid On 28 May 2021, Spanish side
Real Madrid announced they had signed Alaba on a five-year contract beginning on 1 July. He inherited the number 4 jersey, previously worn by the last captain
Sergio Ramos over the past 16 seasons. He made his debut on 14 August, starting in a 4–1 win over
Alavés. He scored his first goal on 24 October in a 2–1 win over Barcelona, his first
El Clásico, becoming the second Austrian player to score in El Clasico history after
Hans Krankl (1979). On 6 April 2022, Alaba made his
100th Champions League appearance in a 3–1 away win against Chelsea in the quarter-final of the competition. On 10 August 2022, he got the opening goal in the
2022 UEFA Super Cup against
Eintracht Frankfurt with Real Madrid going on to win 2–0. On 14 August 2022, he scored the winning goal for Real Madrid from a free kick in a 2–1 away victory against
Almería. During Real Madrid's La Liga match against
Villarreal on 17 December 2023, Alaba suffered a
torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee, requiring surgery and an extended recovery period, which lasted about 13 months. Alaba's return on the pitch happened on 19 January 2025 in a 4–1 win against
Las Palmas. ==International career==