Real Madrid v Liverpool (25/02/2009) - Double Agents

Real Madrid v Liverpool (25/02/2009) - Double Agents

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Real Madrid v Liverpool (25/02/2009) - Double Agents

Monday, 23rd February 2009

YNWA takes a look at the players who have represented both Real Madrid and the reds as we visit the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu on Wednesday.

El Boss
Rafael Benítez arrived at Anfield from Valencia in June 2004 and has so far taken charge of the reds on 277 occasions, winning 156 times. He had been on Real Madrid's books as a player but was forced to retire aged just 26, without having made their first team. He went into coaching, taking charge of the Under-19's and Reserves, before becoming Assistant Manager. He then left the Bernabéu to take the hot-seat at Real Valladolid in 1995.

His first season in charge at Anfield saw him lead us to glorious victory in the Champions League Final in Istanbul, to claim the European Cup for the fifth time in our history. He then added the UEFA Super Cup and FA Cup to the Anfield trophy collection to become the first reds boss to claim major trophies in his first two seasons in charge. He has since claimed the FA Community Shield and taken us to a second European Cup Final in three seasons.

Other current double agents
Álvaro Arbeloa signed from Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña for £2.64m in January 2007, and has so far featured 85 times across the defence, as well as notching two goals. He started out with Real Madrid, playing for their youth team and captaining the Castilla reserves side, as well as featuring twice for the first team before moving to Coruña in July 2006.

Jerzy Dudek signed from Feyenoord for £4.85m in August 2001 and made 186 reds appearances, helping us to glory in Istanbul, as well as the Worthington Cup in 2003. He left to join Real Madrid in July 2007, although he has only played eight times for their first team to date.

Up front
Fernando Morientes signed for the reds from Real Madrid for £6.3m in January 2005. He bagged just twelve goals in 61 reds games, but helped us to claim the FA Cup and UEFA Super Cup before moving on to Valencia in July 2006, where he regained his scoring touch. He had moved to Madrid from Real Zaragoza in the summer of 1997 for a €26.6m fee, notching a total of 98 times in 259 matches, including bagging five goals in a 7-0 trouncing of Las Palmas in February 2002, as well as having a penalty saved. He helped them to three European Cups and two La Liga titles, but was deemed surplus to requirements after Ronaldo's arrival from Internazionale. He joined AS Monaco on loan for the 2003/04 season, scoring in both legs of their Champions League Quarter-final defeat of Real Madrid, and making his fourth Final appearance as they lost to Porto. He struck 22 goals in 42 games for the principality side, including an impressive nine in twelve European outings. He returned to Madrid that summer but was now behind Michael Owen in the pecking order, prompting his switch to Anfield.

John Toshack signed from Cardiff City for £110,000 in November 1970 and scored 96 goals in 247 reds appearances, leaving Anfield having helped us to three League titles, two UEFA Cups, FA Cup and FA Charity Shield before returning to Wales to join Swansea City in February 1978. He was later in charge of Real Madrid twice in his chequered managerial career. He led them to the La Liga title in 1990 but was sacked in the November of that year on the back of three straight defeats. He returned to the Bernabéu in February 1999, lasting just nine months before being sacked again, eleven games into the new season with his new big money signing Nicolas Anelka having not yet set La Liga alight.

Michael Owen joined Real Madrid for £8m in August 2004 after 158 goals in 297 reds games, and having helped us to claim the UEFA Cup, FA Cup, League Cup, UEFA Super Cup and FA Charity Shield, as well as being voted European Footballer of the year in his time at Anfield. He remained in Spain for just one season, moving back to England to join Newcastle United for £17m in August 2006, after sixteen goals in 43 games for the Spanish outfit and the highest goals per minute ratio in the Spanish league that season.

Nicolas Anelka joined Real Madrid from Arsenal for a staggering £23m fee in August 1999. He only grabbed four goals in 24 games while at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, before moving on to Paris St. Germain the following summer. He joined the reds on loan from the French club in December 2001, netting five times in 22 reds games, but was not taken on permanently at the end of the season.

Shaggy
Steve McManaman bagged 66 goals in 364 reds games, helping us to the FA Cup in 1992 and the Coca-Cola Cup three years later, as well as being named in the PFA Team of the Year for four successive seasons. He joined Real Madrid on a Bosman free transfer in July 1999, returning to England to sign for Manchester City on another free transfer in August 2003. He had grabbed fourteen goals in 157 outings after becoming only the second ever Englishman to play for the Madrid side.

McManaman and Morientes both struck as Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 in the European Cup Final in the Stade de France in May 2000, with Anelka also featuring. McManaman and Morientes also played in the Final at Hampden Park two years later, when they beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1, with Morientes also having featured in their 1-0 defeat of Juventus in the 1998 Final in Amsterdam. McManaman also claimed two La Liga titles, the UEFA Super Cup, Supercopa de España and the Intercontinental Cup while in Spain.

Other double agents
Antonio Núñez arrived at Anfield as part of the deal that took Michael Owen to Spain and made 27 appearances, becoming the only player to score his solitary reds goal in a major cup final, as he netted a consolation in the Carling Cup defeat by Chelsea in February 2005. He was sold to Real Club Celta de Vigo in July 2005, and is now playing for Real Murcia. He had notched once in eleven La Liga outings for Real Madrid.

José Ochotorena played nineteen League games between the sticks for Real Madrid, before joining Valencia in 1988, where he is currently goalkeeping coach. He spent three years at Melwood from the summer of 2004, before being replaced by Xavi Valero when he returned to the Mestalla.