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El Clasico is the grandest and most famous rivalry, by a long way, in the most popular sport on earth. Real Madrid and Barcelona are fierce political rivals as well owing to their opposing political positions. Both clubs are among the richest and most successful football clubs in the world today.
The history between Barcelona and Real Madrid has always been surrounded by controversy. And when a player of either team makes a direct switch between the teams, the fans are annoyed to an extent where it breeds hatred.
Let's take looks at top 5 players who left Barcelona for Real Madrid.
1. Michael Laudrup
The Danish international is one of the most underrated and under-appreciated players in the history of Barcelona. Michael Laudrup moved from Juventus to Barcelona in 1989 where he won a Serie A and an Intercontinental Cup in his four years and was a well-established name in the world football.
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He became an important part of Barcelona's 'dream team' alongside Dutch defender Ronald Koeman and Bulgarian striker Hristo Stoichkov.
During the 1993-94 season, Cruyff decided to bench Laudrup for most of the year, so that he could make newly signed Brazilian striker Romário play. This forced Laudrup to look for a new team.
Real Madrid signed him the very next season, where he won La Liga with Los Blancos, giving Laudrup the chance for a little bit of revenge against Cruyff, who felt he had nothing more to contribute.
He retired in 1998 with Ajax and is currently the manager of Al-Rayyan SC in Qatar.
2. Luis Milla
The retired Spanish defensive midfielder is another famous figure to have worn the shirts of both Barcelona and Real Madrid. Milla played for Barcelona from 1984 until 1990, lifting La Liga, Copa Del Rey and European Cup in six years at Camp Nou.
He brought a lot of unwanted attention to himself after completing a controversial move to Real Madrid on free transfer in 1990 after involving in a sour contract renewal dispute with manager Johan Cruyff. The Spanish midfielder had a more successful time with Madrid, helping the side to two league titles and the Copa del Rey in 1993.
He retired with Valencia in 2001 after 4 years at the club. He presently is the manager of Indonesian national team.
3. Bernd Schuster
Bernd Schuster was one of the few players to appear on both sides of El Clasico rivalry. He was an important part of the FC Barcelona team during the 1980s. He did not have a healthy relationship with the club management. Yet he managed to have a decent career with the Catalan giants.
After a fallout with Barcelona management, he made a controversial move to arch-rivals Real Madrid. He led the team as they dominated the Spanish Championship through the 1980s.
Schuster wasn't done crossing the divide there though; he then joined Atletico Madrid directly from Real. He finally retired 1997 and went on to become manager of Real Madrid, Malaga and many other clubs.
4. Josep Samitier
Samitier is considered the most emblematic player in the history of FC Barcelona. He has played 454 games and scored 333 goals. He is the club's all-time third top goalscorer with behind Paulino Alcántara and Lionel Messi.
He was the best European forward of his times. He was nicknamed El Mag (The Magician) and Home Llagosta (The Grasshopper Man) because of his playing style.
He was involved in a dispute with the FC Barcelona management in 1933. This led to him losing his place in the first team. After a lot of controversies, he made the switch to Real Madrid and went on to win a La Liga title in 1932–33 and the Copa de España in 1934.
Despite all the controversy, he remained a legendary figure at FC Barcelona. He was given a virtual state funeral by the club when he died in 1972.
5. Luís Figo
The most infamous of all those to play for both sides of the rivalry is Luis Figo. The Portuguese superstar became one of Barcelona's favourite sons since his arrival in 1995. His skills and approach to the game on the pitch won him a place in the hearts of the Catalans, playing 172 league games and scoring 30 goals for them.
In the summer of 2000, Figo made a controversial decision to leave the Catalans and sign for bitter rivals Real Madrid. Figo's transfer to Real Madrid was, at the time, the most expensive in football's history. He became the new focus of the Barcelona–Real Madrid rivalry, with Barcelona fans feeling betrayed by his transfer and turned against him.
When he returned to the Camp Nou for a league game in the white of Real Madrid, Barcelona fans threw coins, golf balls and even a pig’s head at him.
Figo went on to win one UEFA Champions League with Los Blancos, something he could never accomplish with the Catalans. He also won the FIFA player of the year in 2001. After leaving Real Madrid, he joined Inter Milan. He played with the Italian outfit for four seasons and retired in 2009.
