Álvaro Arbeloa is a defender who plays for Real Madrid and the Spanish national team. Arbeloa joined Real Madrid as a seventeen year old in 2000. To get more chances to play first team football he moved to Deportivo de La Coruña ahead of the 2006-07 season. He played most matches for Deportivo but then made a surprise transfer to Liverpool in January 2007. He finished that season and the next season with many strong performances for the club. He showed his versatility by shifting from right to left back to deal with Lionel Messi, against Barcelona in the Champions League. In July 2009 Arbeloa was signed back to Real Madrid, where he in fact has been playing mainly as a left back. Arbeloa made his debut for Spain in 2008 and was in their winning squad of both the 2008 UEFA European Championship and the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Diego Contento is a left back who plays for German side Bayern München. Contento is of Italian parentage but is born and bred in Munich. He joined the Bayern München youth academy from a very early age. He signed his first professional contract with the club in January 2010, at the age of 19. He made his debut as a substitute the following month. Contento quite quickly made his way into the starting XI and is regarded as a huge talent. He has played for Germany’s U-17 and U-20 levels but has indicated he would like to play for Italy at senior level.

Stefan Schürf is a defender in the Bayern München squad. He plays for their reserve team and has also played for the German U-21.

Martín Demichelis is a centre back who plays for German side Bayern München and Argentina. Demichelis arrived from Argentinian side River Plate to Bayern München in 2003. He used to play as a midfielder but was transformed to a defender at Bayern. Ahead of the 2010-11 season Demichelish had a fall-out with Bayern’s head coach Louis van Gaal. He has so far not played any matches this season and might be leaving the club. Demichelish had his debut for Argentina in 2007 and was part of the Argentinian squad in the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Daniel Van Buyten is a centre back who plays for German side Bayern München and the Belgian national team. The early years of his professional career were with Belgian Clubs Sporting Charleroi and Standard Liège. In 2001 he went to Olympique de Marseille in France. While playing for Marseille he became a regular in Belgium’s national team.
Van Buyten had a brief spell with Manchester City in 2004, on loan from Marseille, but eventually made a move to Hamburger SV in Germany. He got a solid reputation while at HSV and rivals Bayern München secured his transfer ahead of the 2006-07 season. At Bayern he has enjoyed his greatest achievements, having won 2 Bundesliga titles, 2 German Cups and 1 German League Cup with the team. They were also runners-up in the 2010 UEFA Champions League final.