Cristian Lema
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.
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. After playing 12 matches with the former side, he moved on loan to Tigre in June 2011, and there he played 11 matches, scoring one goal. In July 2012, aged 22, he transferred to Quilmes, with whom he would play 40 matches and score 2 goals before moving to Belgrano in 2014. 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.
In June 2018, Lema moved to Portugal and signed a five-year contract with S.L. Benfica. 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. Afterwards, he was loaned out to Newell's Old Boys for 2019–20. He left Benfica on 1 October 2020 to join Saudi Arabian club Damac FC.
On 18 February 2021, Lema returned to Newell's Old Boys, and signed a contract until December 2021.
In November 2022, Lema joined fellow Primera División club Lanús ahead of the 2023 season.
On 8 January 2024, Lema moved to Boca Juniors for a reported fee of $500.000, signing a two-year contract.
Career statistics
- As of match played 11 November 2023
| 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 | 0 | 31 | 2 | |
| 2016 | Argentine Primera División | 14 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 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 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Peñarol (loan) | 2019 | Uruguayan Primera División | 13 | 2 | — | 7 | 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 | 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 | ||
- ^ 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.
- ^ Rebelo, Marco (22 June 2018). "Perfil de Lema" [Lema profile]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). Retrieved 23 June 2018.
- ^ 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)