Played for both: Five modern era stars at Atletico and Real Madrid
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To celebrate the sixth Madrid derby of the season between La Liga champions Atletico and Champions League holders Real, Coral’s football experts take you on a trip down memory lane with five players that spent time with both clubs over the last 35 years.
Diego Simeone’s side are 19/10 to beat Los Blancos for a fourth time this term across all competitions, while Carlo Ancelotti’s Galacticos are 7/5 favourites for victory at the Vicente Calderon and a draw is priced at 23/10. Who has played for both, though? Without further ado, we’ll reveal our picks:
Jose Antonio Reyes
Ex-Arsenal and Spain winger Reyes is now in his second spell at Sevilla, yet left the Gunners for the Bernabeu on loan for the 2006/07 campaign. He helped Real seal their La Liga triumph on the final day of that season with a brace off the bench after replacing David Beckham.
A €12m permanent switch to Atletico followed in the summer of 2007, where he won the Europa League three years later. Reyes also netted the opener against Madrid in a 3-2 defeat on his old stomping ground in March 2010:
Hugo Sanchez
Magnificent Mexico striker Sanchez made the move to Europe with Atleti in 1981, but starred in the Real side that won five La Liga titles in a row (1986-90). Those honours were in large part down to him, as he was top scorer in Spain for four of those seasons, as well as his last campaign at the Vicente Calderon.
Cristiano Ronaldo (288) is only one of five men to have netted more goals for Los Blancos than Sanchez (208). The Portugal icon is an 11/10 chance to add to his tally anytime, and 6/1 to net two or more.
Bernd Schuster
Forward-thinking West Germany midfielder Schuster maybe be best known for eight years for Barcelona, but went on to cross the El Clasico divide in 1988. He won league titles in his two seasons with Real (1988-90), and then stayed in the Spanish capital by switching to Atletico for a further three campaigns.
Schuster, who was later Bernabeu boss for 17 months (July 2007-December 2008), holds the distinction of winning the Copa del Rey with all three of Spain’s current top three teams.
Santiago Solari
Current Real youth team coach Solari left his native Argentina for Atleti in January 1999. The following season, however, they were relegated and Los Blancos profited from their neighbours’ demise by poaching the left-footer.
Solari played in Real’s Champions League final triumph at Hampden Park in 2002 and, as though an excuse is needed, here’s that goal from Zinedine Zidane, with the Argentine involved in the build-up:
Juanfran Torres
Right back Juanfran is an academy product of Los Blancos, and came through the Bernabeu ranks to make six first-team league appearances. A loan spell with Espanyol followed in 2005/06, and then he left for Pamplona team where he spent four-and-a-half years.
Atletico came in for Juanfran in the January transfer window of 2011, and he won the Europa League under Simeone the following season. Another trophy came in the next campaign with the Copa del Rey and then last term he added La Liga to his honours. Juanfran is a 20/1 outsider to grab a rare goal against Real anytime.
