Julián López

Two days before the 2021 Copa de la Liga Profesional final against Colón, Julián Alejo López tested positive for COVID-19 and sat out the decisive match. He had come through at Racing Club, where he made his debut in 2018 under Eduardo Coudet.

The route out of Racing was awkward. Defensa y Justicia coach Sebastián Beccacece wanted him on loan, but Racing's board refused to include a clause compensating the player for matches he did not play, and López went instead to Ferro Carril Oeste in Primera Nacional on a loan — a decision that drew criticism. In Buenos Aires he played 12 matches and set up five goals.

Defensa got him later that year anyway, on loan with an option to buy 50% of his rights for 700,000 dollars. He played 16 matches in 2022 with two assists, then 38 across the Liga Profesional, Copa Argentina and Copa de la Liga in 2023 without scoring. That was the year he won the Torneo Clausura title, and the year Defensa reached the Copa Sudamericana semi-finals before losing to Liga de Quito; López appeared 12 times in the competition, scoring twice and adding an assist.

The move became permanent on 1 January 2024. That April he settled a Copa Sudamericana group match against América Mineiro, striking two minutes into the second half for a 2-1 win. Thirteen league appearances followed in the Torneo Betano.

Tigre took him on loan for the whole of 2025 — 29 league matches and one goal, plus three in the Copa Argentina. He is back at Defensa for 2026, wearing 55, with seven matches so far.

He played four times for Argentina's under-20 side at the 2019 South American Championship, providing one assist.