You won’t find many players who, during their careers, have defended the colors of both Real Madrid and Barcelona. The two grandees of Spanish soccer and the two clubs with the fiercest rivalry.
A total of 39 players have represented both sides and almost all of the most famous cases were foreign players who were not born in either city.
The list includes such illustrious names as Luis Figo, Luis Enrique, Michael Laudrup, Samuel Eto’o and Ronaldo Nazário, moving from one to the other with varying degrees of controversy.
Some of them got on the scoresheet in El Clásico for either Madrid or Barça but only four players have scored in the iconic fixture for both. That list is Luis Figo, Luis Enrique, Ronaldo Nazario and Josep Samitier.
El Clásico legend: Josep Samitier
The first to do it, Josep Samitier (1902-1972), El Mago (the Wizard), remains a Barça legend, even though he enjoyed greater success in front of goal with Madrid in El Clásico. Between 1919 and 1932, he was one of the blaugranas’ most iconic players and, despite being a midfielder, he was a highly proficient goal scorer. During his 17 seasons at Barça, he found the target once against the old enemy. After making the switch in 1932, he scored three times against his old club.
Barcelona hosted Madrid on the final day of the 1931-2 season. Samitier gave the locals an early lead but the visitors responded and it ended 2-2 on the whistle - enough for Los Blancos to be crowned champions.
Samitier became the first player to score for and against both clubs in the Week 15 league meeting in Chamartin in March 1933. He was on target twice, either side of half-time; Severiano Goiburu pulled one back for the visitors late on as it ended 2-1.
He repeated the feat, breaking Barça hearts, the following year. Madrid raced to a 3-0 first-half lead in the capital in January 1934 with Samitier grabbing the team’s second goal. Hilario added a fourth after the break to equal Madrid’s biggest win over the Catalans.
El Clásico legend: Luis Enrique
Luis Enrique was the next player to score for both. Unlike Samitier, the current PSG coach started out with Madrid and made the switch to Barcelona in the summer of 1996. He had been a first-choice with Los Blancos since his arrival from Sporting in 1991-92. His first goal in a Clásico came in his penultimate season in Madrid - in the 5-0 drubbing at the Bernabéu in January 1995.
With Barça he bagged a brace in the 3-0 Week 22 league win in 1998-99 and celebrated against his old employers again by scoring the opener in the 2-0 home win in 2000-01. He later cancelled out Ronaldo’s opener in the 1-1 in 2002-03.
El Clásico legend: Ronaldo Nazário
Ronaldo spent the 1996-97 campaign at Barça, and scored the winner (and missing a penalty) in a 1-0 win over Real Madrid at Camp Nou in Week 37. He left for Inter Milan but returned to LaLiga in 2002 to become the latest superstar in Florentino Pérez’s Galáctico project. He scored a total of four goals for Madrid against Barcelona in El Clásico, starting with a 1-1 draw at the Bernabéu in 2002-03. Ronaldo scored in a 1-2 win at Camp Nou and joined Zidane, Michel Salgado and Michael Owen on the scoresheet as Vanderlei Luxemburgo’s team ran out 4-2 winners in 2003-04. His last goal in a Clasico came in 2005-06, cancelling out Ronaldinho’s opener in the 1-1 draw at Camp Nou.
El Clásico legend: Luis Figo
Of all the players to have represented both sides, none received a reception like Luis Figo. Beginning wth Barcelona in the 1995-96 season, Figo was on target in a 3-0 win at Camp Nou. In his final season before the controversial move to Madrid he found the net in the 2-2 at Camp Nou. With Madrid, he only scored once in El Clásico: a 2-0 at the Bernabéu in November 2001. Figo played five years at both clubs but Barcelona fans will never forgive him.