New York Yankees vs Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Lakers vs Boston Celtics, Boca Juniors vs River Plate. All of those rivalries have something special, but perhaps none of them is as globally expected as El Clásico between Real Madrid vs Barcelona.
Barcelona and Real Madrid are two of the most popular teams in the world and for very good reasons. They’ve dominated the soccer world for decades and have had some star-studded squads throughouttheir history.
Obviously, playing for the Blaugranamost likely means that you’ll hate Los Blancos and vice versaand that you’re never going to commit the ultimate sin and join their lifelong rivals. Then again, there’s an exception to every rule.
There have been a handful of players that have played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid. Some didn’t get much playing time, some starred for both. Today, we’ll show you 5 of the most prominent names that played for both sides of El Clásico.
5. Luis Enrique
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Luis Enrique is Spain’s coach. (Getty)
Luis Enrique is often seen as a Catalan icon. He enjoyed the best years of his career from 1996-04 with the Blaugrana, making 207 appearances and scoring 73 goals before eventually coming back to be their coach.
What most young fans don’t know – or don’t want to know – is that Luis Enrique actually played for Real Madrid between 1991-96 before joining their lifelong rivals. In fact, he even won one La Liga, one Copa del Rey, and one Supercopa de España with them and was a steady contributor to their success.
4. Bernd Schuster
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Schuster later coached Real Madrid. (Getty)
Bernd Schuster was a versatile, tough midfielder that could play almost everywhere on the pitch. He’s mostly remembered because of his great contributions to La Quinta del Buitre for Real Madrid from 1988-90, the very same team he later coached in 2007-08. Schuster won two La Liga, one Copa del Rey, and one Supercopa de España as a player and another La Liga and Supercopa de España as their manager.
Nevertheless, the best years of Schuster’s career came long before that, as he actually played for FC Barcelona from 1980-88, helping them win one La Liga, one European Cup Winners’ Cup, one Copa de La Liga, and threeCopadel Rey.
3. Luis Figo
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Figo retired with Inter Milan. (Getty)
Luis Figo is a name you should never mention in the streets of Barcelona. He rose to stardom with the Catalans from 1995-00 and looked poised to have a long career at Camp Nou, scoring 30 goals in 172 caps for them and helping them win two La Liga, two Copadel Rey, one Supercopa de España, oneUEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and one UEFA Super Cup.
Then, in the summer of 2000, Real Madrid bought him for€62 million and he became the most hated man in Catalunya, thus becoming a Merengue legend. Figo spent the next five seasons in Real Madrid and scored 38 goals for them, winning two La Liga, two Supercopa de España, one UEFA Champions League, one Intercontinental Cup, and one UEFA Super Cup.
2. Samuel Eto’o
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Eto’o broke out with Mallorca before joining Barcelona. (Getty)
Samuel Eto’o is considered one of the greatest African players of all time and for very good reasons. He broke out as a superstar striker for Barcelona, scoring 108 goals in 140 caps for them over a five-year tenure. Also, he helped the Blaugrana win three La Liga, one Copa del Rey, two Supercopa de España, and two UEFA Champions League.
But more than that, Eto’o is beloved around Barcelona because of how much he hates Real Madrid. What most people don’t know is that Los Blancos discovered him as a prospect, but sent him away on loan multiple times and didn’t give him the chance to prove his worth. The rest, as you know, is history.
1. Ronaldo
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Ronaldo won 2 FIFA World Cups with Brazil. (Getty)
Ronaldo is perhaps the greatest striker of all time. He shined everywhere he played and is the true definition of a winner. And even though most people remember him for being a Real Madrid legend, his career actually took off inBarcelona after a couple of seasons playing for PSV.
Ronaldo scored 34 goals in 37 games for Barcelona. He later spent 5 years at Inter Milan before coming back to Spain to play for Real Madrid for the next 5 seasons, scoring 83 goals in 127 caps and helping them win one La Liga, one Supercopa de España, and one Intercontinental Cup. For Barcelona, he won one Copa del Rey, oneUEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and one Supercopa de España.