Joel López is the oldest field player in the Celta Vigo reserve team. At 24 years old, he is the defender who has known the bitter face of the sport, a serious injury that halted a progression that was pointing to the first team under Claudio Giráldez. When two years have passed since his dramatic setback, the Barcelona-born defender is pushing his body to the limit to make his dream a reality. He arrived in Vigo from Cultural Leonesa in the 2023-2024 season and in the last match of that campaign he broke his left knee. On June 8, 2024, he suffered the dreaded triple injury in the return leg of the promotion playoff to Segunda División against Málaga. That evening at La Rosaleda, the olive team lost the eliminator and for seven months one of its undisputed starters was out. While most of his teammates in the usual starting eleven of that Fortuna were making the leap to the first team (Javi Rodríguez, Yoel Lago, Alfon, Pablo Durán...), the Catalan full-back was in the dry dock. He reappeared on the pitch in late February 2025 and three months later Celta renewed his contract until 2028. Joel López's door to La Liga has not yet opened.