Real Madrid meet Liverpool in Saturday’s Champions League final in Kiev and for nine specific onlookers, it will be a case of divided loyalties.
That is the number of players there are to have donned both the white and the red of two of Europe’s most fabled clubs.
Here, Sportsmail reflects on who they are and what they achieved from Madrid to Merseyside.
XABI ALONSO
A Champions League winner both at Liverpool and Madrid but it’d surely be the miraculous 2005 final in Istanbul with the Reds that would edge it for Alonso. He scored Liverpool’s third goal – the equaliser – from a rebound after missing a penalty.
The Spain midfielder had five years at Liverpool before moving back to his homeland with Madrid for six seasons.
‘I have feelings for both clubs,’ Alonso said ahead of the final. ‘I was lucky enough to win this trophy with both clubs so for me it’s difficult to pick one and I will be happy whatever happens.’
Xabi Alonso scored Liverpool’s third goal when they won the Champions League back in 2005
Alonso won the Champions League with Madrid in 2014, defeating Atletico Madrid
NICOLAS ANELKA
Anelka’s time at Real Madrid was unsurprisingly awry; he didn’t score in the first five months and had a bust-up with manager Vicente del Bosque but found the net in both legs of Madrid’s Champions League semi-final against Bayern Munich and started in the final in Paris against Valencia, which Madrid won 3-0.
He only ever played for Liverpool on loan, joining in December 2001 and impressed until the end of the season. But curiously, Reds boss Gerard Houllier opted to sign El-Hadji Diouf in the summer of 2002 instead.
Nicolas Anelka had a tumultuous season at Madrid but won the Champions League in 2000
Anelka impressed at Liverpool during a loan spell but Gerard Houllier did not buy him for good
ALVARO ARBELOA
Arbeloa began his career at Real Madrid but only made a couple of first-team appearances before leaving for Dpeortivo La Coruna in 2006.
He was signed by Rafa Benitez a year later and his Liverpool first start came away to Barcelona in the Champions League. Benitez fielded him at left-back rather than his usual right to negate Messi cutting inside on his left foot. The plan worked, Liverpool won 2-1 and eventually progressed into the quarter-final.
Arbeloa returned to Madrid from Anfield in 2009 and spent seven years there, winning La Liga once and the Champions League twice.
Alvaro Arbeloa was tasked with silencing Lionel Messi in his early days at Liverpool
He renewed his rivalry with the Barcelona star during his days as a Real Madrid player
JERZY DUDEK
At Liverpool, Dudek will forever be a hero for his display in the 2005 Champions League final. Not only did he pull off a wonder save from point-blank range to deny Andriy Shevchenko in extra time, but he replicated Bruce Grobelaar’s wobbly legs in the penalty shoot-out to seal Liverpool’s fifth and latest Champions League title.
Pepe Reina’s arrival that summer demoted Dudek to No 2 and he left Liverpool for Madrid ahead of the 2007-08 season, arriving as back-up to Iker Casillas. He played for Madrid for three seasons and worked under Jose Mourinho before leaving in 2011.
Jerzy Dudek will forever be a Liverpool hero after his role in the Champions League final
Dudek later moved to Spain and joined Real Madrid as a back-up to first choice Iker Casillas
STEVE MCMANAMAN
McManaman left Liverpool for Spain on a free transfer in 1999 and starred in their Champions League final victory over Valencia in 2000, before lifting the trophy again two years later when Madrid defeated Bayer Leverkusen in Hampden.
Despite the success of his time in Madrid, McManaman will be supporting his boyhood side at the weekend and believes the three-pronged attack of Roberto Firmino, Mohamed Salah and Sadio Mane can prove the difference.
‘They know whether they are watching quality or rubbish,’ McManaman said about Liverpool fans. ‘But, right now, they are seeing quality. Of course they can win it. With that front three? Dear me.’
Steve McManaman came through the ranks at Liverpool but departed for Madrid in 1999
In the white of Madrid, McManaman lifted the Champions League on two occasions
FERNANDO MORIENTES
At Madrid, Morientes partnered Raul in attack during eight trophy-laden years at the Santiago Bernabeu. He had three Champions League titles and two La Liga medals when he arrived at Anfield, via a loan spell at Monaco, in January 2005.
He started brilliantly in England, following up a fabulous first goal in a 2-1 comeback win against Charlton with a towering header against Fulham at Anfield.
But from then on, he struggled for goals. When he left Liverpool in 2007 for Valencia, his record was 12 goals in 61 games.
Fernando Morientes won the Champions League three times as a Real Madrid player
Morientes pictured celebrating the first of the 12 goals he scored as a Liverpool player
MICHAEL OWEN
Synonymous with Liverpool, where he scored 158 goals in 297 games after bursting into the first-team as a 17-year-old. He won the European Footballer of the Year gong in 2001, the then equivalent of today’s Ballon d’Or.
Owen departed Liverpool for Madrid for £8million plus Antonio Nunez in 2004, the summer Benitez became Liverpool boss, with a year left on his contract. In a solitary season in Spain, he scored 15 goals in 40 matches before returning to the Premier League with Newcastle.
‘I loved playing at Real Madrid,’ Owen told Marca. ‘ I think I started 20 games, and I was substitute for the same amount. But it was almost impossible for anyone to play all the minutes of all the matches with Raul, Ronaldo, Morientes.’
Michael Owen scored an impressive 158 goals in 297 games as a Liverpool striker
In his only season in Madrid, Owen scored 15 goals in 40 matches before returning to England
ANTONIO NUNEZ
Nunez joined Liverpool’s Spanish revolution from Madrid when Owen headed to Spain in 2004. First-team chances were hard to come at Real.
At Liverpool, he made 27 appearances, mainly as a substitute, in his only season in England but played in some key games such as the 3-1 victory over Olympiakos in the Champions League, featuring that wonder goal by Steven Gerrard. He also scored in Liverpool’s 3-2 League Cup final defeat by Chelsea.
He left Liverpool at the end of the season for Celta Vigo.
Antonio Nunez joined Liverpool as part of the deal which took Owen to the Bernabeu
Nunez played mainly as a substitute and after one year at Anfield, he joined Celta Vigo
NURI SAHIN
The Turkey midfielder exited Jurgen Klopp’s Borussia Dortmund in May 2011 for La Liga, but struggled to settle at the Bernabeu.
Injuries hampered his first season under Mourinho and it was announced the following summer that he was joining Liverpool, managed by Brendan Rodgers, on loan for the 2012-13 season.
He lasted until December, his loan terminated after 12 games and three goals, and he rejoined Dortmund in January 2013, where he remains to this today.
Nuri Sahin played 12 games on loan at Liverpool under Brendan Rodgers in 2012
Midfield player Sahin joined Liverpool from Real Madrid, where he struggled to settle