Barcelona take on Atlético Madrid tonight in a top-of-the-table clash in La Liga.
Barça go in in first place on 34 points but defeat for them would see the visitors – currently in fourth on 31 – join them at the summit.
There are likely to be a couple of players facing their former sides – despite the fact that the clubs have regularly been battling each other and Real Madrid for domestic (and European) supremacy over the past decade or so, transfers between the pair have been semi-regular.
The bulk of the players involved have been attackers and the numbers 7 and 9 have featured heavily. Here’s a run-down:
David Villa
The attacker had worn 7 during his five seasons at Valencia before joining Barcelona in 2010 – and also had it as he helped Spain to win three major tournaments.
However, prior to that he had worn 9 for Sporting Gijón and Real Zaragoza and he was reunited with that number when he joined Atlético in 2013.
Arda Turan
When Villa joined Atlético, the number 10 was held by Arda Turan, who had switched from the 11 he wore in his first season, 2011-12.
The Turkish midfielder secured a move to Barcelona in 2015 – he was never going to prise 10 from Lionel Messi at Camp Nou but 7 was a good consolation prize to receive.
Antoine Griezmann
When Adrián López left Atlético at the end of 2013-14, David Villa didn’t feel enough of an attachment to take the number 7 that had been vacated and so instead new signing Antoine Griezmann was able to claim it.
The France international had worn it for previous club Real Sociedad (having started off wearing 27 in San Sebastián) and he retained it in Madrid until he joined Barcelona in 2019. At the time, Barça’s number 7 Philippe Coutinho was on the way out of the club but not in time for the numbers list for 2019-20 to be submitted, meaning Griezmann ended up with 17.
Though Coutinho did depart before the end of the transfer window, La Liga’s rules around changing numbers during the season had been tightened up and, as Griezmann had appeared on the pitch in 17, he wasn’t able to change until the 2020-21 season. However, not even being in his favourite digit could make his time in Barcelona a happy one and he rejoined Atlético early in 2021-22.
Once again, his path to 7 was blocked by a skilful-but-inconsistent Lusophone – João Félix this time – and so he had to be content with 8. The 2023-24 campaign saw him back in his preferred number.
Luis Suárez
While it was not strictly speaking part of the Griezmann deal, Suárez’s move from Barcelona to Atlético in 2019 essentially functioned as a part-exchange.
He is unique among the players featured here in only wearing the same 1-11 number for each club.
Memphis Depay
While Memphis Depay followed Suárez in wearing 9 for both clubs, that was punctuated by a spell as 14 for Barcelona.
As noted recently, he displaced Martin Braithwaite on his arrival at Camp Nou but then had to give way to Robert Lewandowski.
João Félix
Despite the large fee when he signed from Benfica, João Félix never really seemed like a Diego Simeone signing and struggled to make an impact at the Wanda Metropolitano.
Having spent the second half of 2022-23 at Chelsea, it was no surprise when he lost 7 to Griezmann. He was initially allocated 17 but was then bumped from that too as it was given to left-back Javi Galán.
The Portuguese playmaker was shifted to 18 but before the end of the summer window he joined Barcelona on loan and wore 14 during his time there.
Clément Lenglet
After a good start at Barcelona, Lenglet’s stock fell and the current season is his third consecutive campaign on loan elsewhere.
Having worn 34 at Tottenham Hotspur in 2022-23 and 17 at Aston Villa last year, the France defender pitched up at Atlético at the beginning of last year – it was the first time he had replicated his Barcelona number 15.
So January 7, 7787 will be Antoine Griezmann Day ???