| Cristian Lema | |
| Full Name: | Cristian Franco Lema |
| Height: | 1.91 m[1] |
| Birth Date: | 24 March 1990 |
| Birth Place: | Puerto Madryn, Argentina |
| Currentclub: | Boca Juniors |
| Clubnumber: | 2 |
| Position: | Centre-back |
| Youthyears1: | 1998–2009 |
| Youthclubs1: | Guillermo Brown |
| Years1: | 2007–2009 |
| Clubs1: | Guillermo Brown |
| Years2: | 2010–2012 |
| Clubs2: | Newell's Old Boys |
| Caps2: | 12 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2011–2012 |
| Clubs3: | → Tigre (loan) |
| Caps3: | 8 |
| Goals3: | 0 |
| Years4: | 2012–2014 |
| Clubs4: | Quilmes |
| Caps4: | 38 |
| Goals4: | 2 |
| Years5: | 2014–2018 |
| Clubs5: | Belgrano |
| Caps5: | 106 |
| Goals5: | 16 |
| Years6: | 2018–2020 |
| Clubs6: | Benfica |
| Caps6: | 1 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2019 |
| Clubs7: | → Peñarol (loan) |
| Caps7: | 13 |
| Goals7: | 2 |
| Years8: | 2019–2020 |
| Clubs8: | → Newell's Old Boys (loan) |
| Caps8: | 22 |
| Goals8: | 5 |
| Years9: | 2020 |
| Clubs9: | Damac |
| Caps9: | 11 |
| Goals9: | 0 |
| Years10: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs10: | Newell's Old Boys |
| Caps10: | 57 |
| Goals10: | 3 |
| Years11: | 2023–2024 |
| Clubs11: | Lanús |
| Caps11: | 37 |
| Goals11: | 1 |
| Years12: | 2024– |
| Clubs12: | Boca Juniors |
| Caps12: | 15 |
| Goals12: | 0 |
| Club-Update: | 20:37, 6 May 2024 (UTC) |
Cristian Franco Lema (born 24 March 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Boca Juniors.
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] and there he played 11 matches, scoring one goal.[2] In July 2012, aged 22, he transferred to Quilmes,[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] Afterwards, he was loaned out to Newell's Old Boys for 2019–20.[5] He left Benfica on 1 October 2020 to join Saudi Arabian club Damac FC.[6]
On 18 February 2021, Lema returned to Newell's Old Boys, and signed a contract until December 2021.[7]
In November 2022, Lema joined fellow Primera División club Lanús ahead of the 2023 season.[8]
On 8 January 2024, Lema moved to Boca Juniors for a reported fee of $500.000, signing a two-year contract.[9]
| 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 | |||
Benfica