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Manchester United and Real Madrid are two of the biggest clubs in world football. No other club is as successful as Real and United probably remain the most glamorous club in the world.
Real have won the UEFA Champions League 13 times and the LaLiga 33 times, whereas United are the most successful English club with three UEFA Champions League titles and 20 Premier League trophies. Both the clubs have a huge fanbase all over the world and, therefore, it is a privilege for any footballer to play for either of those.
However, there have been some footballers who have managed to play for both of them in the 21st Century. We would take a look at them in this article. It has to be mentioned here that we are not including David Beckham in this list as he started his United career in 1992. Here goes the list.
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#1 Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo remains a legend for both of these clubs and has enjoyed great success at both the places. He was signed by Sir Alex Ferguson from Sporting Lisbon in 2003 as a precocious teenager and developed into a world-class player while playing for United.
Ronaldo spent six supremely successful seasons with United and won three Premier League titles and a UEFA Champions League with them.
He primarily played as a winger for United and scored 118 goals from 292 matches for them. Ronaldo dazzled the United supporters with his great speed, ball-control, and shooting. He drew comparisons with the legendary George Best. He also won the Ballon d'Or in 2008 after his stupendous display in the European football.
Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid in 2009 and reached even greater heights for the “Los Blancos”. He developed into a great goal-scorer while playing for Real and started playing as a center-forward in recent years. He also became a better athlete and frequently beat the opposition defenders with his exceptional speed and agility.
Ronaldo won four Champions League titles for Real in five years from 2014 to 2018. He also won two La Liga titles with them and scored a staggering 450 goals from 438 matches. Ronaldo became one of the very few players to score in three Champions League finals as Real defeated Juventus 4-1 back in 2017 with a brace from the Portuguese virtuoso.
He also developed a great rivalry with Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and those two created a duopoly at the Ballon d’Or for a decade from 2008 to 2017. Ronaldo won four Ballon d’Or while playing for Real and left for Juventus in 2018.
#2 Ruud Van Nistelrooy
Van Nistelrooy was a very opportunistic striker who remained extremely lethal inside the penalty box throughout his career. He was signed by United in 2001 and spent five very successful seasons with them.
He was extremely quick inside the penalty box and good in the air too. He scored 150 goals in 219 matches for United and won a Premier League title for them. He also won the Golden Shoe in the Premier League in 2002-03.
Van Nistelrooy moved to Real Madrid in 2006 but was not quite as successful as he was with United. He joined Los Blancos when they were on a decline as players like Zinedine Zidane, Ronaldo, and Luis Figo were on the verge of retirement.
He played for Real for four seasons and scored 64 goals in 96 matches for them, the Dutchman won the Pichichi trophy in 2006-07 for being the highest goal-scorer in La Liga. He also won two Spanish Leagues with them and finally moved to Hamburger SV in 2009.
#3 Gabriel Heinze
Heinze was signed by United in 2004 and played for them till 2007. He could play both as a left-back and a center-back and played in either position for United. Heinze was a strong tackler and superb in the air. He lent solidity to a United defense that was trying to cope with the departure of the likes of Jaap Stam and Laurent Blanc.
He played in the United defense along with the likes of Gary Neville, Mikael Silvestre, and Rio Ferdinand and scored four goals in 83 matches for them. He also won a Premier League title with them.
Heinze moved to Real Madrid in 2007 and went on to play for them for two seasons. He played for a Madrid and managed to win one La Liga with them.
He left Real in 2009 after having scored three goals from 60 matches for them.
#4 Javier Hernandez
Hernandez was yet another of Sir Alex Ferguson's signings and had a fairly successful career with United from 2010 to 2015. He was an opportunistic striker who could score from a tight space inside the penalty box. He also had a decent header on him and scored some goals important goals.
However, he often found it difficult to make it to the starting line-up as United had great players like Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie in their squad. Still, he scored 59 goals from 157 matches and won two Premier League titles with them.
He played for Real Madrid for a season on loan but again found it difficult to make it to their first team. Real already had players like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Gareth Bale in their line-up and it was not easy for Hernandez to break it to the playing eleven.
He still managed to score nine goals from 33 matches for them, including the winner against Atlético de Madrid in the UCL quarterfinals, but could not win any major silverware. Hernandez finally moved to Bayer Leverkusen in 2015 and went on to have a fairly successful career with them.
#5 Michael Owen
English striker Michael Owen is another player to have played for both United and Real Madrid. However, Owen would always be primarily remembered as a Liverpool player as he spent the best years of his career with them.
Owen was signed by Real Madrid in 2004 and played for them for a solitary season. He had some difficulties to make it to the starting line-up but still, he managed to score 16 goals in his 45 matches for Los Vikingos.
He also played for United from 2009 to 2012, but mostly played second fiddle to younger players like Wayne Rooney and Robin Van Persie. Owen scored only 17 goals from 52 matches for United in his three seasons with them but managed to win the Premier League title in 2010-11.
He had an eye for goal and was also blessed with speed and consummate dribbling skills. He also is one of the few English footballers to have won the Ballon d'Or.
#6 Angel Di Maria
Angel Di Maria, the Argentine attacking midfielder, is yet another player who has played for both those clubs. Di Maria can play as a central attacking midfielder as well as a left winger. He is known for his powerful shooting and good dribbling skills.
He was signed by Real Madrid in 2010 and played for them for five seasons. Di Maria played alongside stars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema, Mesut Ozil, and Gareth Bale and also won 1 La Liga and 1 UEFA Champions League title for them.
Di Maria scored 36 goals in 190 matches for Real and also won the runners-up medal for Argentina in the 2014 World Cup. After the World Cup, he was signed by Manchester United as their the then coach, Luis Van Gaal, was looking for a quality winger for his side.
Di Maria, however, struggled to get a regular place in the starting line-up of United and played in only 32 matches in his solitary season with them. He scored only four goals and failed to win any silverware with them. He moved to Paris Saint Germain in 2015 and has been with them since then.
