Ranking top 5 footballers who played for both Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund

Real Madrid and Borussia Dortmund will contest club football’s biggest game this weekend as the two teams meet in the Champions League final.

All eyes will be on Jude Bellingham, whose sensational debut season with the Spanish side will conclude with a European final against the team he left last summer. It’s a scriptwriter’s dream.

Bellingham, however, is not the only player to have adorned the all-white colours of Madrid and the famous Black and Yellow of Dortmund.

Flávio Conceição

Part of the Deportivo La Coruna team that upset the odds to win the Spanish title at the turn of the millennium, Real Madrid moved to snap up Flávio Conceição from their divisional rivals.

The Brazil international arrived in the same summer as Claude Makelele at the Bernabeu and failed to hold down a regular place in the side. He made just 45 appearances across three seasons, though did win two La Liga titles and the 2001-02 Champions League.

In search of regular first-team football after struggling to dislodge the Galacticos, Conceição joined Borussia Dortmund on loan for the 2003-04 campaign. However, he again featured sporadically before signing for Galatasaray on a permanent deal in 2004.

He ended his career with 45 caps and five goals for Brazil, though was never selected for a World Cup squad. He did, however, win the Copa America in 1997 and 1999.

Christoph Metzelder

Christoph Metzelder spent the bulk of his career with Borussia Dortmund, representing the German side on 158 occasions and forming part of the club’s 2001-02 Bundesliga title-winning team.

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Despite a bright start to his career, which included reaching the 2002 World Cup final with Germany, the centre-back was blighted with fitness issues and missed the entire 2003-04 season with an Achilles injury.

He joined Real Madrid on a free transfer in 2007 and won La Liga in his debut campaign, though featured just 23 times in the league across three seasons, before ending his career at Schalke.

In 2021, Metzelder received a suspended ten-month jail sentence after admitting to the possession and distribution of exploitative images of children.

Nuri Sahin

Nuri Sahin was one the bright talents of Jurgen Klopp’s first title-winning team at Borussia Dortmund with the midfielder an influential presence as BVB were crowned Bundesliga champions in 2010-11.

Sahin scored six times and provided eight assists to announce his arrival as one of German football’s best talents, earning the Bundesliga Player of the Season award, and his performances caught the attention of Real Madrid.

The Spanish side signed Sahin in a €10m deal but his debut season proved to be a disaster as injuries restricted him to just four league appearances. A loan move to Liverpool failed to reignite his fortunes before he returned to Dortmund for a second stint.

Sahin made 264 appearances across his two spells at the Westfalenstadion and is currently working as assistant manager to Edin Terzic at Dortmund, after a spell as head coach of Antalyaspor in Turkey.

Achraf Hakimi

Achraf Hakimi might just be the best right-back in world football right now. The Moroccan’s ascent to that status was kickstarted with a two-season loan at Borussia Dortmund, having failed to break into Real Madrid’s plans.

The defender came through the ranks at the Bernabeu before departing for Dortmund in search of minutes. He made 73 appearances, scoring 12 goals and providing 17 assists from full-back, and was named in the Bundesliga Team of the Year in 2019-20.

Real Madrid sold Hakimi to Inter Milan upon his return and he won the Serie A title in his sole season with the club, before a €60m move to Paris Saint-Germain. Hakimi has added three Ligue 1 titles to his swelling silverware haul and formed part of the Morocco team that became the first African nation to reach the World Cup semi-finals in 2022.

Jude Bellingham

Jude Bellingham will come face-to-face with his former team in the Champions League final this weekend, with Borussia Dortmund having provided the platform for his rise to the summit of the game.

Dortmund beat competition from Premier League clubs to sign Bellingham from Birmingham City as a teenager and the midfielder soon made his mark in Germany. He marked his debut with a goal to become Dortmund’s youngest goalscorer at that time, made his senior England debut aged 17, and helped Dortmund to DFB-Pokal success in 2020-21.

His final season at the Westfalenstadion saw Bellingham win the Bundesliga Player of the Season award, after helping BVB to a runners-up finish.

Bellingham signed for Real Madrid last summer and has had a stunning start to his career in Spain. The 20-year-old has scored 23 goals in all competitions to become the youngest-ever player to win La Liga’s Player of the Year award, as Real Madrid reclaimed the Spanish title. He will hope to cap a dream debut season with Champions League success, with Wembley a fitting venue.