Born in
Bárzana de Quirós,
Asturias, Marcial made his professional debuts with
Elche CF at the age of 18, finishing
his first season in
La Liga – he only competed in that level during his career – with 24 games and three goals. In the summer of 1966 he joined
RCD Español after rejecting offers from
Inter Milan,
Real Madrid and
FC Barcelona. In
his first season with the
Pericos, Marcial scored 11 goals in 29 contests to help the club to a best-ever third place in the league, but
suffered team relegation in his third year, which did not prevent, however, his signing for neighbouring Barcelona, where he went on to appear in 357 official matches during his eight-year spell, netting 84 goals; in
1973–74, as the
Catalans won the national championship, he was the competition's second-best scorer at 17, only trailing
Sporting de Gijón's
Quini. In 1977, Marcial left the
Blaugrana after having been suspended by the club during
the previous campaign due to a breach of regulations alongside teammate
Carles Rexach, who remained at the
Camp Nou, however. He then joined
Atlético Madrid for a further three top flight seasons, retiring at the end of
1979–80 (aged nearly 34) after only appearing in nine games for the
capital side. Marcial held the curious record of being the only player to have scored against Real Madrid with four different teams. In 1986, he returned to first club Elche to work in directorial capacities, then had two coaching spells with the latter in the following decades, including ten games in the
second division in the
2000–01 season, with the
Valencians retaining their status in dramatic fashion in the last round with a 2–2 home draw against
SD Compostela, which would drop down a level instead. ==International career==