Clásico. FC Barcelona – Real Madrid

Players who were idols of Barcelona like Samitier, Tejada, Schuster, Laudrup and Figo one day changed Barça for Real Madrid

Twelve players have gone directly from Barça to Real Madrid; the reverse path has only been done by three footballers

If you ask any Barça fan the name of a footballer who is remembered for having changed the blaugrana colors for Real Madrid white, the answer will be quick: Luis Figo. The change of the Portuguese and his subsequent return to the Camp Nou will never be forgotten, but before and after that resounding signing there have been a good number of footballers who have gone directly from one team to another. In total, there are twelve footballers who came to Real Madrid from Barça and only three who made the journey in reverse.

Among the first, the ‘turncoat’ began with Alfonso Albéniz, son of the composer Isaac Albéniz. He started playing soccer in London, where his family was because of his father’s job. Back in Barcelona, ​​this striker with a refined technique aligned himself with Joan Gamper, winning the Macaya Cup. He went to Real Madrid for studies.

The next Barça player to become a target was Walter Rozitsky. Soccer was still amateur and the Pole left Barcelona to go to work in Madrid, joining Madrid CF, with whom he played for two years before being enlisted in the German army and participating in the First World War.

they were idols

Much more famous was the case of Josep Samitier, one of the greats in the history of Barça. After more than a decade making Barcelona fans happy, he was released by the club due to financial problems. Days later, thanks to his friendship with Santiago Bernabéu, he signed for Real Madrid. And he was a ‘defaulter’ twice. Well, years later, when he was Barça’s technical secretary, he also left the Catalan club to go to Real Madrid..

The change of Justo Tejada was also sounded. A great winger for Barça in the fifties, the club wanted to clean up the squad after the fateful final in Bern. He agreed to drop him if he signed for a team that was not less than 100 kilometers from Barcelona. Tejada paid 500,000 pesetas for his freedom and went to Real Madrid thanks to his friendship with Alfredo Di Stéfano.

There were two more ‘defaulters’ in the 1960s, both foreigners. The Brazilian Evaristo de Macedo went down in Barça history for eliminating Real Madrid with his goal for the first time in the European Cup in November 1960. Two years later he went to the white club after confronting the board, who wanted him to become a Spanish national, to which he flatly refused.

Next up was Fernand Goyvaerts. The Belgian had joined Barça in 1962 for 125,000 pesetas and signed for Real Madrid three years later after being named Best Foreigner in the League.

From Schuster to Saviola

We had to wait until the end of the eighties to know the name of the next ‘defaulter’. It was the German Bernd Schuster. He did it after finishing his contract and as revenge for his harsh confrontation with Josep Lluís Núñez for the final of the European Cup lost in Seville against Steaua in 1986, after which Schuster was cut from the team.

With Johan Cruyff on the bench, the case of Luis Milla occurred. The Dutchman made his youth midfielder debut in the first team, but later the man from Teruel did not reach an agreement to renew his contract and Cruyff left him without playing. He reached an agreement with Real Madrid, which paid his termination clause of 300 million pesetas.

The Andalusian center back Nando Muñoz was the next player that Barça changed for Real Madrid. He did it after winning the European Cup at Wembley. He was at Barça on loan from Sevilla and the white club paid the 500 million pesetas of the termination clause to the Andalusians.

The next two cases did a lot of damage to Barcelona fans. After being one of the key players of Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’, Michael Laudrup went to Real Madrid with the letter of freedom angry with the Dutch after making him the fourth foreigner, relegated by Koeman, Stoickkov and Romario, at a time in which only three could be on the field. The next one was the sound of Figo. Being an idol of Barcelona, ​​the Portuguese agent reached an agreement with the candidate Florentino Pérez to go to Real Madrid if he won the elections. He won them and the whites paid his termination clause of 10,000 million pesetas. He left reluctantly, but the subsequent receptions he received at the Camp Nou caused him to end up giving up his Barcelona support and become another Real Madrid player.

The last one was Javier Saviola. The Argentine went to Real Madrid in 2007 with the letter of freedom after not receiving a renewal proposal from Barça.

FROM MADRID TO BARÇA

Only three players have gone directly from Real Madrid to Barça. The most notorious change is that of Luis Enrique, who arrived at the Camp Nou in 1996 with the letter of freedom to become another Barcelona fan over the years, becoming one of the most hated footballers at the Santiago Bernabéu. With Barça, he won two Leagues, two cups, a Recopa, a Spanish Super Cup and another in Europe. He returned as coach years later to win it all, including a treble in 2015.

Before the Asturian, two footballers had changed Real Madrid for Barça. The Frenchman Lucien Müller had done it in 1965, managing to win a Fairs Cup and a Spanish Cup with Barça.

Many years before, in 1946, it had been Josep Canal who had changed Real Madrid for Barça. The Catalan interior had only played for one season at the white club after having previously played for Granollers and Espanyol. With Barça he won two Leagues, a Spanish Cup, an Eva Duarte Cup and a Latin Cup.