The El-Clasico, Great players to have played for both Rivals (Part 1)

The El clasico is probably the most anticipated match in the world, it is placed between two Spainish giants, Real Madrid and Barcelona, the match most times determines who wins the league between the two sides.

The El- Clasico has also featured most glamorous players on earth and trust us, we have a complete list of the players that have played for both rivals, some transferred directly and some went through some other clubs.

Barcelona then Madrid

1. Alfonso Albéniz

Became the first player to move from Barcelona to Madrid in 1902. He won several titles with both clubs. He later became Director of Real Madrid.

2. Charles Wallace

Played for both Barcelona and Real Madrid in 1902.  

3. José Quirante

José Quirante Pineda (born 1 January 1884 in Alicante, Spain) was a soccer player and manager. He coached Real Madrid during the first Spanish league season. He played for FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. When playing for Real, he did not give up his attachment to Barcelona. He was the first footballer to play for the two rivals. He also coached Unión Sporting Club de

Madrid, Sevilla FC, Real Murcia, Hércules CF, Málaga CF, Cádiz CF and Real Betis.

4. Arsenio Comamala

Plays as a forward, born in Barcelona ​​1888. He joined Real Madrid in solidarity with what he considered the unjust expulsion of Quirante from the club, and stayed there for 2 seasons until 1913 but did not play but won a trophy in the season he started playing for Real.

5. Walter Rozitsky

Walter Rozitsky was a Polish football player with a French passport, who played the positions of midfielder and defender. He played for FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. He could have also been an earlier French player for Le Havre. His name, "Rozitsky", appears in a number of archival compositions of FC Barcelona before the war. He was probably a midfielder (or right winger) and defender. In his time, Poland was not on the map. Despite this, at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu in the gallery of all the Real Madrid players, under the name Rozitsky is inscribed Polonia (meaning Polish). The first Pole playing for the club took pride at being placed next to Santiago Bernabéu Yeste, with whom he performed on the same team.

Rozitsky was the fifth player in history who left FC Barcelona for Real Madrid. In the shirt of the Blaugrana he played 55 games and scored 5 goals, won the club championship of Catalonia, and won twice the King's Cup and the Pyrenees Cup. He remained in Madrid until 1915, when the outbreak of World War I suspended his career. He left Spain, was drafted into the German army and never returned to the Iberian Peninsula. He died during one of the battles for independence; the details of his death are unknown.

6.  Ricardo Zamora - (Through Espanyol)

The first goal keeper and the only one to have kept in between the sticks for both rivals. In his football career, he played for RCD Espanyol, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid. As an international he played for both the Catalan XI and Spain. As a manager he won two La Liga titles with Atlético Aviación and briefly managed Spain. He helped Real Madrid win its first La-Liga during the 1931–32 season they helped the club win La Liga for the first time and also helped in retaining it.

Zamora, nicknamed El Divino, was noted for wearing a cloth cap and a white polo-neck jumper on the field, a look later copied by several of his contemporaries. He claimed it was to protect him from both the sun and his opponents. He was also noted for his bravery. In 1929 while playing for Spain against England, he carried on playing despite breaking his sternum. Spain won the game 4–3, becoming the first team from outside of the British Isles to defeat England.

Zamora is also remembered for a spectacular last minute save he made in the 1936 Copa del Presidente de la República Final while playing for Real Madrid against FC Barcelona. Regarded as one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time, the award for the best goalkeeper in La Liga, the Ricardo Zamora Trophy, is named in his honour, and he was voted one of the greatest players of

the 20th century by World Soccer magazine.

Zamora was also the subject of controversy throughout his career. He allegedly enjoyed drinking Cognac and smoking up to three packs of cigarettes a day. During the 1920 Olympic Games he was sent off against Italy after punching an opponent and on the way back from the same tournament he was arrested, imprisoned and fined for attempting to smuggle Havana cigars. In 1922 he was suspended for a year when he lied to the tax authorities about the signing on fee he received when he returned to RCD Espanyol. He also received 40,000 pesetas of the 150,000 peseta fee that took him from Espanyol to Real Madrid.

7.  Josep Samitier

Josep Samitier Vilalta (2 February 1902 – 4 May 1972), also known as José Samitier, was a Spanish footballer, manager and scout who played for FC Barcelona, Madrid CF, OGC Nice, the Catalan XI and Spain.

During his playing career with FC Barcelona he scored 333 goals and currently is the club's all time third top goalscorer with behind Paulino Alcántara who scored 369 goals and Lionel Messi who scored 381 goals. As a player he pioneered the midfield general role and was nicknamed El Mag (The Magician) and Home Llagosta (The Grasshopper Man) due to his style. As a manager he led CF Barcelona to a La Liga title in 1945 and as a scout he recruited another CF Barcelona legend Ladislao Kubala. However he was later accused of acting as a double agent when the club tried to sign Alfredo Di Stéfano and in the 1960s he fell out with Helenio Herrera and went to work for Real Madrid. Despite his role in the Di Stéfano affair, twice defecting to Real Madrid and his friendship with Franco, he remained a legendary figure at FC Barcelona and when he died in 1972 he was given a virtual state funeral by the club.

After he was dropped from the first team of Barcelona in 1933. Madrid CF, were quick to take advantage of the situation. Samitier was reunited with both his friend Ricardo Zamora and then Francisco Bru. Although his career with the Madrid club was short, he did help them win a La Liga title in 1932-33 and the Copa de España in 1934.

8.  Alfonso Navarro

Alfonso Navarro Perona born in Gava, Barcelona, ​Spain, April 8, 1929 and died in  Viladecans, Barcelona, ​​Spain, 10 August 1969. He is a Spanish footballer who played as Forward. He left Barcelona after spending 4years at the club and left for Real Madrid, spending just a season. He later played for Barcelona in the course of his career before retirement.

9. Justo Tejada

Justo Tejada Martínez born 6 January 1933 is a former Spanish footballer. He was capped by Spain 8 games scoring 4 goals. He played Barcelona for 149 times from 1952–1961 scoring 73 goals, before playing for rivals from 1961–1963, making 33 appearance scoring 10goals. He won the Spainish league and Super Cup for both sides.

10. Evaristo de Macedo

He was the first Brazilian to move from Barcelona to Real Madrid, before Ronaldo moved but through Inter Milan.

Evaristo played for Madureira and Flamengo in Brazil before moving to Barcelona in 1957, where he stayed until 1962. Then, the Catalan officials tried to talk him into taking Spanish citizenship so he can play for Spain, but he refused. After this disagreement, Macedo accepted the offer from Real Madrid, and went to play for the rivals. Macedo was scouted for Barcelona by the club technical secretary, Josep Samitier, which did exactly the same thing 24 years before Macedo: in 1962, Samitier left Barcelona for Real Madrid.

He played for Barcelona 114 times and scored 78goals which gave them two Laliga titles and a Copa del Rey title. He also played for Real 17 times in 3years! scoring 4times, well he won himself the laliga twice also there.

11. Fernand Goyvaerts

The first and only Belgian to have played for both sides. He made his début for the first team of Club Brugge at the age of 16. In 1958, his penalty kick against CS Verviers was decisive for the promotion of Club to the highest level in Belgian football. He left Club Brugge in 1962 after a conflict with the Romanian coach Norberto Höfling. FC Barcelona paid 5 million Belgian franc for him. Two years later, he was voted best foreigner of the Primera División, not quite long, he left Barcelona for Madrid and due to injuries, he was never really able to break through to the Real Madrid side making just 3 appearances in 3years scoring only one goal.

12. Bernd Schuster

His nickname is "der Blonde Engel" (the Blond Angel). Schuster started his professional career with Schuster left Köln after the 1980 European campaign to sign with Spain's FC Barcelona, where he flourished. During his career, he played for clubs Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Bayer Leverkusen. He is the one of the players to have played for the three Spainish rivals, He won, the European Silver Ball in 1980 and Bronze Ball in 1981 and 1985. At age 21, in 1981, he received a bad injury on his right knee by Athletic Bilbao defender Andoni Goikoetxea while playing for Barcelona he won the Laliga and also for Real Madrid. He also won the Copa de Rey for Real, Barcelona and Atletico. He also won the Laliga and Super Cup as a coach for Real.  

He played 170 times for Barcelona from 1980–1988 scoring 63goals. He also played 61 times for Real Madrid scoring 13 times from 1988–1990 scoring 13goals.

13. Luis Milla

Milla made his Spanish league debut for Barcelona in 1985, eventually making 54 appearances for the club. However, an uneasy relationship with manager Johan Cruyff, largely due to his excessive wage demands, meant he spent more time out of the side than in it.

In 1990, he made the direct switch to the Bernabeu and had a more successful time with Madrid, helping the side to two league titles and the Copa del Rey in 1993.

14. Fernando ”Nando” Muñoz

During a 15-year professional career he appeared in 306 La Liga games, having represented four clubs, most notably FC Barcelona and Real Madrid.  Born in Seville, Nando started his career with hometown's Sevilla FC, his first game being on 22 February 1987 in a 1–0 home win against Athletic de Bilbao. He left in the 1990 summer to join FC Barcelona – with the Andalusians having an option to rebuy – where he won the European Cup in 1992 and two La Liga titles in two seasons; at his new team, he reunited with former Sevilla defensive mate Ricardo Serna.

Subsequently Nando returned to Sevilla, but was immediately bought by Barça archrivals

Real Madrid, where he would spend three and half seasons with irregular playing time – 46 matches in his first two years combined, three in the following – before moving to RCD Espanyol in January 1996. In the other Catalonia side he would play until the end of the 2000–01 campaign, scoring his only goals as a professional in the process.

Nando retired aged almost 34 and earned eight caps for the Spanish national team, all while at Barcelona. His debut came on 12 September 1990 in a 3–0 friendly win over Brazil, in Gijón.

He won with Barcelona an European Cup and two La Ligas, he also won with Real Madrid a La Liga and a Copa del Rey. He played 64 times in two years with Barcelona and 49 times for Real Madrid.

15. Michael Laudrup

The only Danish to have played for both Real and Barcelona, Michael Laudrup born on the 15 June 1964 is a retired Danish footballer; he was a member of Johan Cruyff's "Dream Team" at Barcelona, where he won nine trophies, including four successive La Liga titles from 1991 to 1994 and the European Cup in 1992. Laudrup moved to arch rivals Real Madrid in 1994, with whom he won his fifth La Liga title in a row. He also had played for Juventus before moving to Barcelona, but his spell there was unsuccessful.

16.  Miquel Soler - (Through Sevilla)

Soler joined neighbours FC Barcelona from Espanyol helping the side to the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in his first season while also appearing in 23 matches in the league. After a sole campaign with Atlético Madrid, where he won his second Copa del Rey, he returned to Barcelona, with no impact. After two excellent years with Sevilla FC. Soler moved to Real Madrid, but appeared scarcely during 1995–96, his sole season with the Merengues. After two years with Real Zaragoza he was still able, at 33, to sign with RCD Mallorca, where he amassed a further 152 top flight appearances, winning another domestic cup and retiring at the end of the 2002–03 season, aged 38; he played in a total of 504 first division games, scoring 12 times.

17. Luís Figo

Born on the 4 November 1972 is a retired Portuguese footballer. He played as a winger for

Sporting CP, Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Internazionale before retiring on 31 May 2009. He won a record 127 caps for the Portugal national football team. Renowned for his creativity and having the ability to get past defenders, Figo is regarded as one of the greatest wingers of his generation. He made 106 assists in La Liga, the second most in La Liga history, behind Lionel Messi. He won the 2000 Ballon d'Or, 2001 FIFA World Player of the Year, and in 2004 was named in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living players. Figo is one of the few football players to have played for both Spanish rival clubs Barcelona and Real Madrid. His controversial 2000 transfer from Barcelona to bitter rivals Real Madrid set a world record fee of £37 million (€62 million). He had a successful career highlighted by several trophy wins, including the Portuguese Cup, four La Liga titles, two Spanish Cups, three Spanish Super Cups, one UEFA Champions League title, one UEFA Cup Winners' Cup, two UEFA Super Cups, one Intercontinental Cup, four Serie A titles, one Italian Cup and three Italian Super Cups. On the international level, he scored 32 goals for Portugal, representing the nation at three European Championships and two World Cups, helping it finish runner-up at Euro 2004.

18. Albert Celades -(Through Celta Vigo)

A tactically astute player with a strong defensive mentality, he is best known for his stints with Barcelona and Real Madrid, and he amassed La Liga total of 223 games and eight goals over the course of 12 seasons, winning 14 major titles both teams combined.

Celades appeared with the Spanish national team at the 1998 World Cup.

19. Ronaldo - (Through Internazionale)

He was born on the 18 September 1976, commonly known as Ronaldo, is a retired Brazilian footballer. Popularly dubbed "the phenomenon", he is considered by experts and fans to be one of the greatest football players of all time. He is one of only four players to have won the FIFA World Player of the Year award three times or more, along with Zinedine Zidane, Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. He also won the Ballon d'Or twice, in 1997 and again in 2002.

Considered by many one of the best strikers of all time, in 2007 he was named in the greatest ever starting eleven by France Football magazine and in 2004 was named in the FIFA 100 list of the greatest living players compiled by Pelé. He was inducted Into the Brazilian Football Museum Hall of Fame in 2006, and the Italian Football Hall of Fame in 2015. Ronaldo played for Brazil in 98 matches, scoring 62 goals, and is the second highest goalscorer for his national team. Aged 17, he was a part of the Brazilian squad that won the 1994 FIFA World Cup. At the 1998 World Cup he received the Golden Ball for player of the tournament in helping Brazil reach the final where he suffered a convulsive fit hours before the defeat to France. He won a second World Cup in 2002 where he scored twice in the final, and received the Golden Boot as top goalscorer. During the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Ronaldo scored his 15th World Cup goal, which was a World Cup record at the time.

He moved from PSV to Barcelona at a world record fee of $19.5 million. During the 1996–97 seasons, Ronaldo scored 47 goals in 49 games in all competitions, He led the Catalan side to

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph where he capped the season with the winning goal in the cup final, and to Copa del Rey and Supercopa de España wins. At the end of 1996, aged 20, Ronaldo became the youngest player to win FIFA World Player of the Year. He also won La Liga top scorer award in 1997 with 34 goals in 37 games, and the European Golden Shoe, he was later sold after one season to Inter Milan as there were problems with the renegotiation of his contract, the then President Josep Lluís Núñez declared; "He's ours for life" he wanted to sign him for life as they tabled a 10years contract to him. He didn't sign and left for Inter Milan.

After 5years with Inter Milan, 1997 to 2002, Real Madrid signed him for €46 million, as his jersey sales broke all records on the first day; such was the obsession and hype surrounding him.

Ronaldo was part of the Galácticos era where the club signed at least one global star every summer, including Zinedine Zidane, Luís Figo, Roberto Carlos, Raúl and David Beckham. He was sidelined through injury until October 2002 but the fans kept on chanting his name. Ronaldo scored twice in his debut for Real Madrid. He received a standing ovation at the Santiago Bernabéu.

That same reception was observed on the night of the final game of the season against Athletic Bilbao, where Ronaldo scored again to seal his first season with 23 league goals and the La Liga title for 2003. He also won an Intercontinental Cup in 2002 and Spanish Super Cup in 2003.

Until the 2008–09 season, Ronaldo remained the last player to score more than 30 goals in La Liga

20. Javier Saviola

He was named as the youngest player on Pelé's FIFA 100 list of the 125 greatest living footballers in 2004. Due to his ancestry he also holds Spanish nationality since 2004, and he amassed La Liga totals of 196 games and 70 goals over the course of eight seasons. In 2001, aged 19, Saviola moved abroad to play for FC Barcelona in a £15 million transfer. He obtained Spanish citizenship shortly after, thereby not being restricted by the Spanish league maximum on the number of non- European Union citizens allowed in each club. Under coach Carles Rexach, he scored 17 goals in his first season, finishing joint-fourth top scorer in La Liga. He was unable to secure a starting place in his second season with Barca as Barcalona changed coach, but he was able to score 13goals the season. His third season with a new manager Frank Rijkaard he player scored 14 times in the league alone, but was deemed surplus at the club as longtime offensive partner Patrick Kluivert.

Saviola was sent on loan in the summer of 2004, moving to AS Monaco FC in Ligue 1. As he did not fit into Rijkaard's plans he was again loaned out the following year, this time to Spanish club Sevilla FC, where he won a UEFA Cup. After he returned to Barca after the loan spells, his contract had expired.

On 10 July 2007 Real Madrid signed Saviola after his Barcelona contract expired, on a three-year deal. Although on a financially lucrative contract, he endured a difficult time at Real, being mainly restricted to cup matches and sporadic appearances (mainly as a substitute) in the league and the UEFA Champions League.

He scored 5golas from 28 appearances for Real Madrid as he was often used as a substitute for Jan Klass Huntelaar.

Stay tuned, we bring to you the players to have played for Madrid and later went to play for Barcelona. An example is Samuel Eto'o.

Don't miss it.

Complied by Adekunle Adewale

Facts and figures from wikipedia