Eleven players, including current Barça midfielder Javier Mascherano, have played for the two teams set to clash in Sunday’s Club World Cup Final
With Sunday’s Club World Cup Final between FC Barcelona and River Plate set to be the first official match between the two sides — separated by 10,000km and the Atlantic Ocean — it’s worth taking a closer looks at the relationship between the two clubs. Why? Because throughout history there have been eleven players who have defended played for both teams.
Of the eleven players listed below, Cubilla, Heredia and Pizzi all went straight from Barça to River, while Bonano, Saviola and Maxi Lopez did the opposite, going directly from River to Barça. Saviola, moreover, is back with the team from Buenos Aires and, as he recently recognised, is about to face “one of the best teams in history.”
Here’s a look at the full list:
| PLAYER | NACIONALITY | POSITION | YEARS AT RIVER PLATE | YEARS AT BARÇA | OFFICIAL GAMES AND GOALS WITH BARÇA |
| Florencio Caffaratti | Argentina | Midfielder | 1939-40 | 1947-49 | 15 (7) |
| Miguel Loayza | Perú | Forward | 1966 | 1959-60 | 2 (2) |
| Luis Cubilla | Uruguay | Forward | 1964-68 | 1962-64 | 25 (4) |
| Juan Carlos Heredia | Argentina | Forward | 1980-81 | 1974-80 | 108 (29) |
| Juan Antonio Pizzi | Argentina | Forward | 1998-99 | 1996-98 | 74 (19) |
| Roberto Bonano | Argentina | Goalkeeper | 1996-01 | 2001-03 | 75 |
| Javier Saviola | Argentina | Forward | 1998-01 | 2001-04; 2006-07 | 177 (74) |
| Juan Pablo Sorín | Argentina | Defender | 1996-99 | 2003 | 15 (1) |
| Maxi López | Argentina | Forward | 2001-05 | 2005-06 | 20 (4) |
| Alexis Sánchez | Chile | Forward | 2007-08 | 2011-14 | 142 (47) |
| Javier Mascherano | Argentina | Defender / Midfielder | 2000-05 | 2010- | 252 |