Ahead of Saturday’s Clasico, the biggest match of the season, the Caught Offside team have put together our worst-ever top ten of Barcelona and Real Madrid players.
This selection of players are an intriguing bunch; on the one hand, while they were all good enough to be signed by either the Catalan giants or the Merengues at one point during their career, all of them proved during their time at their respective clubs that they just weren’t quite up to the job.
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Needless to say, none of the star-studded selection set to take to the field on Saturday feature on this list…it’s probably for the best.
Jonathan Woodgate
A superb defender, but nothing went right for him at Real.
Woody’s time at the club was plagued by injury, and he both scored an own goal and was sent off on his debut. Excellent.
Alex Song
Song’s career took a wrong turn when he swapped Arsenal for the Bernabeu, and some could argue that he’s never truly recovered.
His Barca highlight to date was surely his attempt to claim the glory when Carles Puyol sought to honour Eric Abidal by presenting him with the La Liga title.
Julio Baptista
Cut from the same cloth as compatriots Adriano and Ronaldinho, ‘the Beast’ loved little more than a long evening on the tiles and, seemingly, didn’t fancy training routines all that much.
He shone at Sevilla, but couldn’t translate that form to Real. Currently features for Cruzeiro in his homeland.
Jose Manuel Pinto
Goalkeeper Pinto was the fall guy in the infamous derby of April 2011, when he was sent off along with Real Madrid pair Pepe and manager Jose Mourinho.
The stopper—who seemingly preferred his music interests off the pitch to his career on it—wasn’t even on the pitch at the time.
He left Barca in 2014 after 31 apps over six years with the club.
Pablo Garcia
The Uruguayan hardman had the long hair and intense features that one might expect from a Galactico, but sadly he was anything but. Unable to replace Claude Makelele, he lacked the finesse and the panache to make it at Real.
Alexander Hleb
Another player who swapped Arsenal for glory at Barcelona, only to flop completely, Hleb shone in the Premier League—albeit inconsistently—but was a disaster in Catalonia.
Dmytro Chygrinskiy
Signed for €25 million, looked like Jesus, a perfect long-term successor for Carles Puyol. What could go wrong?
Unfortunately, the centre-back just didn’t cut it during his single season at the club under Pep Guardiola.
He was cast back to Shakhtar at a €10 million loss after only one year.
Quite an expensive loan deal!
Royston Drenthe
Signed from Feyenoord for £13 million, Drenthe missed a sitter in the Clasico and ultimately, it was his bad attitude rather than his talent that stole the headlines.
Now 28, he plays for Abu Dhabi outfit Baniyas.
Julien Faubert
Many—Faubert incuded—thought it was a joke when Real Madrid attempted to sign the West Ham United man on loan.
His most notable contribution at the Spanish capital was being pictured falling asleep while on the bench.
Keirrison
Ring any bells? Keirrison was the Brazilian wonderkid to arrive at Barcelona from Palmeiras for €14 million in 2009, only to leave five years later having played exactly zero games for the Catalan giants.
He moved back to his homeland on a free transfer. Ouch.