Argentinos Juniors Born in
Buenos Aires, Pareja started playing for
Argentinos Juniors. He scored his first goal in the
Primera División on 10 February 2006, in a 2–1 win against
Club Atlético Independiente.
Anderlecht R.S.C. Anderlecht acquired Pareja in 2006 for
€2 million as a replacement for
Vincent Kompany, and the former went on to be a teammate of compatriots
Lucas Biglia,
Nicolás Frutos and
Cristian Leiva. His first game in the
Pro League took place on 20 August, when he came on as a second-half
substitute in the 4–3 away defeat of
K.V.C. Westerlo. Despite several injury problems, Pareja was regularly used during his two-year spell in Belgium, pairing mainly
Roland Juhász. In late January 2008, he agreed to a contract extension until June 2012.
Espanyol Pareja joined Spanish club
RCD Espanyol in the summer of 2008, for a fee of €4.5 million. He made his
La Liga debut on 14 September, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away victory over
Recreativo de Huelva, and scored his first goal in the competition the following 11 January to help salvage a point at home to
UD Almería (2–2). During his tenure in
Catalonia, Pareja started in all his league appearances.
Spartak Moscow In August 2010, after being linked to a move to former side Anderlecht, Pareja signed with
FC Spartak Moscow. He made his
Russian Premier League debut late in that month, featuring four minutes in a 4–2 home win against
FC Tom Tomsk. After missing out several matches throughout June and July 2011 due to international commitment, both Pareja and compatriot
Marcos Rojo were fined for returning late to the club. He netted his first goal on 11 September, the only to help the hosts defeat
FC Amkar Perm. Pareja was handed a three-match ban after being
sent off for a hard
tackle on
PFC CSKA Moscow's
Vágner Love in November 2010, being suspended even harsher (four) in October of the next year following a match against
FC Zenit Saint Petersburg. He signed a contract extension shortly after the second offense, however, running until 2016. After featuring regularly in
his second season, Pareja appeared only 12 times in
his third, due to rotations with
Salvatore Bocchetti and
Juan Insaurralde as well as physical problems.
Sevilla On 4 July 2013, Pareja was loaned to
Sevilla FC. He appeared in 37 competitive matches in
his debut campaign, including 12 in the
UEFA Europa League which his team
won; subsequently, he was selected to the 18-man
Europa League squad of the season along with teammates
Beto,
Stéphane Mbia and
Ivan Rakitić. On 23 June 2014, the
Andalusians activated his buyout clause for €2.5 million, and Pareja signing a three-year deal. On 3 January of the following year, whilst celebrating his 100th appearance in Spain's top flight, he scored the game's only goal at home against
RC Celta de Vigo, through a
direct free kick; on 23 April, early into a
Europa League quarter-final tie at Zenit, he suffered an
anterior cruciate ligament to his right knee, going on to be sidelined until the end of the year. In late August 2016, the 32-year-old Pareja agreed to a further extension at the
Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán Stadium until 2019. Having acted as
team captain for the first time on the 28th, in a 0–0 away draw to
Villarreal CF, he was named by manager
Jorge Sampaoli as one of the four skippers early into
the new season. On 24 August 2018, Pareja's contract was terminated by mutual consent and
Daniel Carriço was named the new captain.
Atlas On 25 August 2018, Pareja moved to the Mexican
Liga MX after joining
Club Atlas. Eleven months later, having made only four competitive appearances, he left the club. ==International career==