Paris-Barcelona, connected by football

Paris and Barcelona are capitals connected by football. Despite PSG’s short history (it was founded in 1970),  nine players have played for both the French team and FC Barcelona. The relationship between the two sides started in the year 2000 and since then it’s been pretty intense.

Dutruel, the first to make the leap

The first footballer to play for both teams was Richard Dutruel. The French keeper played for PSG from 1991 to 1996, the year he signed for Celta Vigo. He made the leap from Balaídos to the Camp Nou in 2000. He played for FC Barcelona for two season, although he only featured regularly in his first year as a Blaugrana. Dutruel is one of the few players to play for Paris first before making the move to Barça. It’s the other way around for most the other players.

Mikel Arteta, for example, was sent out on loan to the French team (2000-2002) from Barça’s youth academy. The same goes for Frédéric Déhu, who featured for Barça (99/00) before he joined PSG (00-04), and Juan Pablo Sorín, who was loaned to Barça from Cruzeiro in 2003 and then to PSG the following year.

Ronaldinho, a Blaugrana genius

Ronaldinho signed for Barça from PSG in the summer of 2003, after he had played for the French team for two seasons. The Brazilian marveled the Camp Nou for five seasons with his infectious style of play and electric talent. Leader of the team that claimed the Champions League in Paris in 2006, Ronaldinho is considered to be one of the best players in FC Barcelona history.

Others players to play for Barça before featuring for PSG are Ludovic Giuly, Thiago Motta, Maxwell and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The latter three continue to play for the Frnch team and they could feature against Barça on Tuesday for the away leg of the quarter-final of the Champions League.