Cristian Lema
Personal information
Full name Cristian Franco Lema
Date of birth (1990-03-24) 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 0 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 January 2024 (UTC)

Cristian Franco Lema (born 24 March 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Boca Juniors.

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]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
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[lower-alpha 1] 0 31 2
2016 Argentine Primera División 14 3 5 0 4[lower-alpha 1] 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[lower-alpha 2] 0 2 0
Peñarol (loan) 2019 Uruguayan Primera División 13 2 — 7[lower-alpha 3] 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[lower-alpha 1] 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
  1. 1 2 3 Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
  2. ↑ Appearance in UEFA Champions League
  3. ↑ Five appearances and one goal in Copa Libertadores, two appearances in Copa Sudamericana

Honours

Benfica

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Cristian Lema" (in Spanish). Universitario de Deportes. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Rebelo, Marco (22 June 2018). "Perfil de Lema" [Lema profile]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  3. 1 2 Cristian Lema at Soccerway
  4. ↑ Garcia, Filipa Fernandes (22 June 2018). "Welcome, Lema!". S.L. Benfica. Retrieved 23 June 2018.
  5. ↑ "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.
  6. ↑ "Futebol: Lema emprestado" [Football: Lema loaned out]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 10 July 2019. Retrieved 11 July 2019.
  7. ↑ Benfica formaliza saída de Lema
  8. ↑ "Cristian Lema regresa al Parque - Noticias CANOB" [Cristian Lema returns to the Park]. Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys Official Website (in Spanish). February 18, 2021. Archived from the original on 2001-05-17. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  9. ↑ "Cristian Lema, el primer refuerzo para Lanús" [Cristian Lema, the first reinforcement for Lanús]. Olé (in Spanish). 18 November 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2023.
  10. ↑ "¡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.
  11. ↑ Cristian Lema at Soccerway
  12. ↑ "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.
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