From Laudrup to Ibrahimovic, from Barcelona to Turin

From Laudrup to Ibrahimovic, from Barcelona to Turin

Eight players have represented both FC Barcelona and Juventus over the years. Martín Cáceres is the only one still playing for one of the Champions League finalists

Michael Laudrup, Juan Pablo Sorín, Edgar Davids, Lilian Thuram, Gianluca Zambrotta, Thierry Henry, Martín Cáceres and Zlatan Ibrahimovic are the eight players that have played for both FC Barcelona and Juventus. Seven of them were in Turin before they donned the FCB jersey. Here’s a look at each of their stories:  

Laudrup explodes

The first player to appear for both sides was Michael Laudrup. The Dane went to Turin to play alongside Michel Platini, Paolo Rossi and Zbigniew Boniek at a young age but struggled to make a name for himself. All that changed when he left for Barça in 1989. The Camp Nou soon discovered that they were watching a unique brand of footballer. A master of the one-on-one, he read the game to perfection and was considered the best passer in the world. At FCB, Laudrup won 11 titles: 1 European Cup (91/92), 1 European Super Cup (1992), 4 Ligas (90/91, 91/92, 92/93, 93/94), 1 Spanish Cup (89/90) and 2 Spanish Super Cups (1991, 1992).

Two winter signings

The next two players to make the same move as Laudrup were Juan Pablo Sorín and Edgar Davids. Both arrived during the winter transfer window, the Argentinian in 2002/03, and the Dutchman in 2004 after seven years with the Old Lady of Turin.

Parallel lives

Two years after Edgar Davids, Lilian Thuram and Gianluca Zambrotta also packed their bags and left Turin for Barcelona. Both wore the Barça jersey for two seasons (2006/07 and 2007/08).

Henry’s dream

While Thuram and Zambrotta were at Barça, Thierry Henry also joined the club on 25 June 2007. He was already a huge international star mainly thanks to what he had done for Arsenal and France, but before going to London, he spent a less successful year at Juventus (1999). Henry had already won the World Cup and European Championship for his country when he came to Catalonia, but he was missing the Champions League, which he would finally win in the treble year of 2009. Between 2007 and 2010, Henry won two Ligas, one Spanish Cup, one Spanish Super Cup, one Champions League, one European Super Cup and one Club World Cup. 

In his final season, Henry was joined in Barcelona attack by Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Swede had previously played 92 games for Juventus in the 2004/05 and 2005/06 seasons, before moving to another Italian side, Inter.

Reverse trip for Cáceres

Only one of the eight played for Juventus after their time at FC Barcelona, and that’s Martín Cáceres. The Uruguayan started at Villarreal before forming part of the treble-winning Barça squad of 2009. But he didn’t play a very big role in that achievement and went out on loan to Juventus first and Sevilla second. The Andalusians decided to exercise their right to sign the player permanently, but one season later the defender went back to Juventus, where he finally managed to find an established home. After three seasons in Serie A, Cáceres is currently recovering from surgery on his left ankle, which brought his season to an early conclusion in March.

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PLAYER

JUVENTUS

BARÇA

Michael Laudrup

1985 - 1989

1989 - 1994

Juan Pablo Sorín

1995 - 1996

2003

Edgar Davids

1997 - 2004

2004

Lilian Thuram

2001 - 2006

2006 - 2008

Gianluca Zambrotta

1999 - 2006

2006 - 2008

Thierry Henry

1999

2007 - 2010

Martín Cáceres

2009 - 2010 (loan)

2012 - present

2008 - 2009

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

2004 - 2006

2009 - 2010

Força Barça
Força Barça

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