‘I told Diego Maradona his laces weren’t tied and he shrugged it off. He played six minutes like that, as if he was playing on the street!’ Michael Laudrup on his incredible encounter with the football legend

Diego Maradona of Napoli, 1987.

When it comes to career paths, Michael Laudrup’s playing career is hard to beat.

After rising to prominence in the Danish league with KB and then Brondby at the start of the 1980s, the playmaker would spend six seasons in Serie A with Lazio and then Juventus, at a time when the Italian league was easily the best in the world.

Shortly before the 1990s were ushered in, the Dane would make the move to Barcelona to play under his childhood hero Johan Cruyff, becoming a pillar of the Barca ‘Dream Team’ before making the controversial move to Real Madrid in 1994, before short stints with Japanese side Vissel Kobe and Ajax.

Laudrup on the best players he played with

Laudrup in action for Juventus (Image credit: Getty Images)

Over these 17 years, Laudrup played with some of the game’s greats; his partnership with French icon Michel Platini at Juventus being just one of the highlights.

“It was special to play alongside him, he was the best European player at the time,” Laudrup recalls speaking exclusively to FourFourTwo. “Whether he was the best I’ve ever played with is a question I can’t answer. I don’t like comparisons.

Diego Maradona and Michel Platiini pose before a Napoli-Juventus match in the 1986/87 season (Image credit: Getty Images)

“How do I compare Platini to Peter Schmeichel, for example? Or with Romario or Ronald Koeman?

“I could easily pick out 25 fantastic players I played with. I can say, however, that the best opponent I played against was Diego Maradona.

“Back then, the pitches were harder to play on and Maradona usually had three or four opponents around him, getting kicked as well, but he was so quick on his feet and if he was hit, he’d be up again immediately.

“I remember a game against him at Napoli – before the match, we were waiting to go onto the pitch, 21 players standing there, and then Maradona stepped in.

“There were around 80,000 in the stadium and after about six minutes, one of our defenders fouled him. When he stood up, I noticed his boot laces weren’t tied.

Denmark's Michael Laudrup in action against Scotland at the 1986 World Cup (Image credit: Getty Images)

“I said to him, “Hey Diego, your boot laces, you’ve not tied them properly.”

“He said, “Ah yeah, you’re right.”

“He played six minutes with his laces undone, like he’d forgotten, as if he was playing on the street! Fantastic."