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Top 5 best footballers who played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid

Football

By Ondeke Joshua | Dec 17, 2019

**El Clasico 2019: Barcelona and Real Madrid agree for 18 December 2019**.[Courtesy]

El Clásico, a La Liga club clash between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona remains to be one of the biggest sporting rivalries and anticipated matches in sporting history.

The contest between these fiercest rivals has featured some of the best players in football, including Brazilian legend Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Alfredo Di Stéfano, Luis Figo, Cristiano Ronaldo and Samuel Etoo just to mention a few.

These two clubs have met in every La Liga season since the inception of the Spanish League in 1929.

As it stands, the clubs have met 177 matches with Real Madrid winning 72 times against Barcelona’s 71 with 34 draws between them.

In this great football history, there have been players who have played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid leaving some of the best memories of Spanish league.

Keep Reading

Here are the top legendary stars to have played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid

1. Ronaldo

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima, commonly known as Ronaldo, is a Brazilian retired professional footballer is among legendary stars to have played for both Barca and Madrid.

Ronaldo joined Barcelona from PSV in 1996 where he spent one season at the Catalans scoring 47 goals in 49 games.

He won the FIFA World Player of the Year award in 1997 before earning a world-record move to Inter Milan where he spent five years.

He joined Real Madrid in 2002 making 177 appearances winning two La Liga titles, 1 Intercontinental Cup 1 Spanish Super Cup, however, failed to win the Champions League trophy.

**Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima.** [Courtesy]

2. Samuel Eto'o

Many might be surprised to know that Cameroonian Legend Eto'o began his professional career at Real Madrid in 1997 where he made only six appearances and was loaned three times.

Eto'o impressed during his four-year spell at Mallorca that earned him a move to Barcelona in 2004. He made 199 appearances for Barcelona scoring 130 goals and winning eight trophies before joining Inter Milan in 2009.

**Cameroonian legend Samuel Eto'o.** [Courtesy]

3. Luis Figo

Luis Figo was loved at Camp Nou from the time he arrived in Barcelona in 1995.

Figa made 249 appearances scoring 45 goals and winning two La Liga titles in 1998 and 1999.

However, he joined Real Madrid from Barcelona in one of the most controversial transfers of all time for a world-record £37.4million deal.

At the Bernabeu, he won two La Liga titles and the Champions League making 239 appearances for Real Madrid.

**Former Portuguese international Luis Figo**. [Courtesy]

4. Luis Enrique

Luis Enrique is the only to have moved directly from Real Madrid to Barcelona.

At Real Madrid, he made over 200 appearances before joining Barcelona in 1996 on a free transfer.

At Camp Nou, he won seven trophies in eight years before retiring in 2004 and moved into coaching.

He returned to Nou Camp giants between 2014 and 2017 as manager where he guided them to two La Liga titles and the 2015 Champions League trophy.

**Former Barcelona Captain and manager Luis Enrique.** [Courtesy]

5. Michael Laudrup

Michael Laudrup was one of the stars of the Johan Cruyff’s “dream team” and played for Barcelona between 1989 to 1994.

At Nou Camp, Laudrup made 216 appearances winning four consecutive La Liga titles and a European Cup in 1992 which was the first one in the history of the club.

However, Laudrup made a switch from Barcelona to Los Blancos in 1994 helping Madrid win the title in his first season in 76 appearances.