Cristian Franco Lema (born 24 March 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Boca Juniors.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cristian Franco Lema | ||
| Date of birth | 24 March 1990 | ||
| Place of birth | Puerto Madryn, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1] | ||
| Position(s) | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Boca Juniors | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1998–2009 | Guillermo Brown | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2007–2009 | Guillermo Brown | ||
| 2010–2012 | Newell's Old Boys | 12 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | → Tigre (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2012–2014 | Quilmes | 38 | (2) |
| 2014–2018 | Belgrano | 106 | (16) |
| 2018–2020 | Benfica | 1 | (0) |
| 2019 | → Peñarol (loan) | 13 | (2) |
| 2019–2020 | → Newell's Old Boys (loan) | 22 | (5) |
| 2020 | Damac | 11 | (0) |
| 2021–2022 | Newell's Old Boys | 57 | (3) |
| 2023–2024 | Lanús | 37 | (1) |
| 2024– | Boca Juniors | 15 | (0) |
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:37, 6 May 2024 (UTC) | |||
Club career
Born in Puerto Madryn, Lema started his football career aged 8 at hometown club Guillermo Brown. He debuted for their senior team in 2007 and left the club in 2009.[2]
A year later, Lema joined Newell's Old Boys and made his Argentine Primera División debut in a 0–0 home draw to Godoy Cruz in November.[2] After playing 12 matches with the former side, he moved on loan to Tigre in June 2011,[2][3] and there he played 11 matches, scoring one goal.[2] In July 2012, aged 22, he transferred to Quilmes,[2][3] with whom he would play 40 matches and score 2 goals before moving to Belgrano in 2014.[2] In his four-year spell with the latter, he became the club's defender with the most league goals ever, 16 in 123 matches. Moreover, he debuted in Copa Sudamericana in 2015.[2]
In June 2018, Lema moved to Portugal and signed a five-year contract with S.L. Benfica.[4] In February 2019, after playing only two matches for the Lisbon side in October, he was loaned to Uruguayan club Peñarol until June 2019, with option to buy.[5] Afterwards, he was loaned out to Newell's Old Boys for 2019–20.[6] He left Benfica on 1 October 2020 to join Saudi Arabian club Damac FC.[7]
On 18 February 2021, Lema returned to Newell's Old Boys, and signed a contract until December 2021.[8]
In November 2022, Lema joined fellow Primera División club Lanús ahead of the 2023 season.[9]
On 8 January 2024, Lema moved to Boca Juniors for a reported fee of $500.000, signing a two-year contract.[10]
Career statistics
- As of match played 11 November 2023[11]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Newell's Old Boys | 2010–11 | Argentine Primera División | 12 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| Tigre (loan) | 2011–12 | Argentine Primera División | 8 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 |
| Quilmes | 2012–13 | Argentine Primera División | 15 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | |
| 2013–14 | Argentine Primera División | 23 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 23 | 2 | ||
| Total | 38 | 2 | 2 | 0 | — | 40 | 2 | |||
| Belgrano | 2014 | Argentine Primera División | 18 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 0 | ||
| 2015 | Argentine Primera División | 28 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | 31 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Argentine Primera División | 14 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 23 | 3 | |
| 2016–17 | Argentine Primera División | 21 | 3 | 2 | 0 | — | 23 | 3 | ||
| 2017–18 | Argentine Primera División | 25 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | 25 | 8 | ||
| Total | 106 | 16 | 8 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 120 | 16 | ||
| Benfica | 2018–19 | Primeira Liga | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[b] | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Peñarol (loan) | 2019 | Uruguayan Primera División | 13 | 2 | — | 7[c] | 1 | 20 | 3 | |
| Newell's Old Boys (loan) | 2019–20 | Argentine Primera División | 22 | 5 | 0 | 0 | — | 22 | 5 | |
| Damac | 2020–21 | Saudi Pro League | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |
| Newell's Old Boys | 2021 | Argentine Primera División | 28 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | 33 | 1 |
| 2022 | Argentine Primera División | 29 | 2 | 1 | 1 | — | 30 | 3 | ||
| Total | 57 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 63 | 4 | ||
| Lanús | 2023 | Argentine Primera División | 37 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 39 | 2 | |
| Boca Juniors | 2024 | Argentine Primera División | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| Career total | 305 | 29 | 17 | 3 | 18 | 1 | 340 | 33 | ||
- ^ a b c Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
- ^ Appearance in UEFA Champions League
- ^ Five appearances and one goal in Copa Libertadores, two appearances in Copa Sudamericana
Honours
Benfica
Individual
- Argentine Primera División Team of the Season: 2023
References
- ^ "Cristian Lema" (in Spanish). Universitario de Deportes. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
- ^ a b c d e f g Rebelo, Marco (22 June 2018). "Perfil de Lema" [Lema profile]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ^ a b Cristian Lema at Soccerway
- ^ Garcia, Filipa Fernandes (22 June 2018). "Welcome, Lema!". S.L. Benfica. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ^ "Oficial: Lema no Peñarol com opção de compra" [Official: Lema at Peñarol with option to buy]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 7 February 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ "Futebol: Lema emprestado" [Football: Lema loaned out]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 10 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
- ^ Benfica formaliza saída de Lema
- ^ "Cristian Lema regresa al Parque - Noticias CANOB" [Cristian Lema returns to the Park]. Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys Official Website (in Spanish). 18 February 2021. Archived from the original on 17 May 2001. Retrieved 18 February 2021.
- ^ "Cristian Lema, el primer refuerzo para Lanús" [Cristian Lema, the first reinforcement for Lanús]. Olé (in Spanish). 18 November 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
- ^ "¡Última hora! Boca anuncia la llegada de Cristian Lema" [Breaking news! Boca announced the arrival of Cristian Lema]. OneFootball (in Spanish). 8 January 2024. Retrieved 8 January 2024.
- ^ Cristian Lema at Soccerway
- ^ "São estes os campeões nacionais pelo Benfica em 2018/19" [These are the national champions for Benfica in 2018–19]. Record (in Portuguese). 18 May 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
External links
- Cristian Lema at ForaDeJogo (archived)