[2] After starting out at Racing Club in 2003, he spent four years each with Porto in Portugal and Lyon in France, winning eight major titles between the two teams.

López was born in the small town of Rafael Obligado, in Buenos Aires Province's vast agricultural interior region.

On 20 April 2008, he netted twice – also being booked – in a 2–0 home win against Benfica;[14] an offer from Zenit Saint Petersburg was rejected midway through the campaign, and the Portuguese club eventually bought the remaining economic rights of the player for €4.4 million.

[2] On 4 November 2009, López scored a late and decisive equaliser in a group game against Liverpool to ensure qualification for the knockout stage.

[19] Four days later he netted twice in three minutes in a 5–5 league draw with Marseille,[20] adding a further three the following month, against Lille; the visitors led 3–1 at half-time, but were eventually defeated 4–3.

[21] On 30 March 2010, López scored twice in the 3–1 home victory against Bordeaux in the Champions League quarter-finals (3–2 aggregate win), but missed the second leg due to suspension.

[30] Three days later Lyon, needing a point to secure passage to the knockout stages of the Champions League, played host to Hapoel Tel Aviv, and he opened the scoring in the 62nd minute of an eventual 2–2 home draw.

[45] In late April of the following year, he announced he was leaving the club in the summer transfer window,[46] with Garde commenting: I also wanted to make a huge tribute to Licha (López).

[51] In the 2018–19 season, he scored 17 league goals to lead the individual charts and help his team win the national championship for the 18th time in their history.

[58] In 2005, López was called up to the Argentina national team by José Pékerman, and he made his debut against Mexico on 10 March in a 1–1 friendly draw.

[59] After solid Porto performances, he was summoned three years later by Alfio Basile for exhibition games with Egypt, Mexico, the United States[60] and Belarus.

[61][62] Nine days later, he was called by national team boss Diego Maradona for the decisive matches against Brazil and Paraguay for the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification, but was overlooked for the final stages in South Africa.