Five players who played for Atletico Madrid and Barcelona | OneFootball

As Atletico Madrid and Barcelona prepare to do battle in the Champions League tonight, we’ve remembered five top players who wore the colours of both clubs.

Sergi Barjuán

Barjuan broke into the Barcelona side during the club’s ‘Dream Team’ era under Johan Cruyff. The academy product was promoted to the first team during the 1993/94 campaign and remained a fixture for the Catalans for almost a decade.

His first season ended in La Liga title success and a European Cup final appearance, with Barjuan collecting nine trophies with Barcelona, including three league titles, two Copa del Rey triumphs, and the 1996 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. In total, the Spaniard made 382 appearances across nine seasons before moving to Atletico Madrid in 2002.

Having fallen out of favour under Louis van Gaal, Barajuan moved to the capital and made 98 appearances for the Rojiblancos before retirement.

David Villa

Spain’s record scorer had strong spells at both clubs, winning La Liga titles with both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.

Villa signed for Barcelona from Valencia in a €40m deal in 2011 and formed part of a formidable frontline under Pep Guardiola. He scored 23 goals in his debut season, including a stunning effort in the Champions League final win against Manchester United, as Barcelona ended the campaign as Spanish and European champions.

Injuries impacted Villa over the next two seasons, and he was allowed to leave for Atletico Madrid, after scoring 48 goals in 119 games for the Catalans. The cut-price €5m fee proved to be a bargain, as Villa scored 13 league goals to inspire Atleti to the title. It was the club’s first La Liga title success in 18 years.

Villa moved on after only one season to sign for MLS outfit New York City.

Luis Suarez

In a transfer that echoed Villa’s move just seven seasons earlier.

Suarez had been a sensation at Barcelona, where he scored 198 goals in 283 games after arriving from Liverpool in a £75m deal. As part of the club’s fabled ‘MSN’ front three alongside Lionel Messi and Neymar, he won a continental treble during his debut year.

On an individual level, the following season was even more impressive. Suarez scored 59 goals in 53 games, becoming the first player since 2009 to beat Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to La Liga’s leading scorer award and the European Golden Shoe.

An astonishing run-in propelled his success, as Suarez scored 14 goals in the final five matches of the season, including two four-goal hauls and a hat-trick. That season also saw Suarez become the first player in history to lead La Liga for both goals and assists.

The Uruguayan won 13 trophies for Barcelona but was unceremoniously told he did not feature in Ronald Koeman’s plans in 2020.

Suarez signed for Atletico Madrid in a cut-price deal that immediately haunted Barcelona. He scored 21 league goals to help the capital club to title success, scoring the La Liga-clinching goal against Real Valladolid. Suarez spent two seasons at Atletico and scored 34 goals in 84 games.

Arda Turan

Arda Turan became the most expensive Turkish footballer of all time when he joined Atletico Madrid from Galatasaray in 2011.

The midfielder made 178 appearances over four seasons and collected several trophies, including the 2013/14 La Liga title, and winner’s medals in the Copa del Rey and Europa League.

Turan transferred to Barcelona for €41m in 2015, though his debut was delayed due to the club’s transfer ban.

It summarised a mixed spell in Catalonia, where Turan picked up a second La Liga medal but failed to command prominent status. He did score 13 goals during the 2016/17 season, including a Champions League hat-trick, but returned to Turkey after being frozen out the following year.

Antoine Griezmann

An Atletico Madrid icon, Griezmann is the club’s record goalscorer after netting 203 goals in the famous red and white of Atleti.

The Frenchman signed for Atletico from Real Sociedad in 2014, and his impact was immediate. Griezmann scored 25 goals during his debut season, in a sign of things to come.

The following campaign saw Griezmann named as La Liga’s Best Player, the sole player to break up Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo’s dominance of the award across an 11-year spell between 2009 and 2019.

Griezmann scored 133 goals in 257 games during his first stint with the club, before a record-breaking move to Barcelona. He signed for the Catalans in a €120m deal, and scored 35 goals over two seasons, but struggled to showcase his best in a team built around Messi.

He returned to Atletico on an initial loan deal in 2021/22, before the move was made permanent, providing him with the platform to break the club’s goal record.

Despite cementing a reputation as one of his generation’s best talents, major prizes have eluded Griezmann. He has claimed a Europa League, Copa del Rey, UEFA Super Cup, and Spanish Super Cup, but has never won La Liga or the Champions League, despite agonising near misses.

Griezmann missed a penalty in normal time during Atletico’s 2016 UCL final defeat to Real Madrid, before the Rojiblancos lost via a shootout.

Read – Atletico Madrid vs Barcelona – Match preview and team news

Read more – Five of Liverpool’s best Anfield comebacks

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