Dane who crossed the divide
Stylish Danish midfielder Michael Laudrup achieved a feat
that few others have managed by playing for both Barcelona and Real Madrid and
still holding the respect and affections of both sets of fans to this day; the
fact that Laudrup was a fine player is one of the few subjects the arch-rivals
can agree on!
Born June 15th 1964 in Fredriksberg into a footballing
family, the young Michael started playing for Vanløse IF before the family
moved when Finn Laudrup, Michael’s father, became player/coach at Brøndby IF in 1973.
Both Michael and younger brother Brian began playing for the youth side at the
club setting them both on a journey to fabulous careers in professional
football.
Three years later, Finn was on the move again to Københavns Boldklub in
the Danish first division and Michael made the switch with him, while brother
Brian remained with Brøndby. Michael made his senior debut for the club in 1981,
before returning to Brøndby IF in ’82. The promising Laudrup scored 15 goals
and won the Danish Player of the Year award that year; already he was showing
how much potential he possessed.
His international debut came in 1982 for Denmark, with Laudrup becoming
the second-youngest national team player in his country’s history. He played a
portion of the 1983 season in the Danish league before Serie A giants Juventus
of Turin came to prise him away from his homeland.
Due to the two-foreigner rule imposed on Italian clubs at the time,
Laudrup was the odd one out of the three foreign players on Juve’s books.
Boniek and Platini were important first-team players for the Bianconeri and
that led to the young Dane going out on loan to Lazio for his first two seasons
in Italian football. Lazio weren’t very strong at the time and narrowly avoided
relegation in Laudrup’s debut season in Rome. The second season was even more
of a struggle and they finished bottom of the table, sealing relegation to Serie
B. Despite his adopted club’s troubles, Michael starred on the international stage
and played a fine Euro ’84 tournament, playing in all four of Denmark’s games.
It had been a harsh introduction to life in Italy, but he remained undeterred.
His situation dramatically improved when he returned to Turin to replace Boniek
and became the second foreign player alongside French international star Michel
Platini. The 1985-86 was hugely successful for the club as they won the
Scudetto and the Intercontinental Cup. Laudrup’s form for Juve earned him his
second Danish Player of the Year accolade; it seemed he’d finally arrived on
the Italian football map.
Denmark went to the 1986 World Cup in Mexico and Laudrup will be
remembered for a fine solo run and goal in the 6-1 demolition of Uruguay. It
was further proof of the starlet’s ability and poise on the ball.
Unfortunately, injury setbacks the season after restricted Laudrup and
his form suffered. He struggled to regain the high standards of the
Scudetto-winning campaign and with Platini’s retirement in 1987 there came
pressure to become the leader of the team, which didn’t materialise. The 23-year-old
failed to live up to the fans’ expectations during the 1987-88 season, playing
30 games without a goal. There followed a disappointing Euro ’88 competition
for Denmark, but at least Laudrup managed to notch one strike there.
After six indifferent years in Italy, Laudrup thought the time was right
for a move and in 1989 he joined Catalonia’s finest FC Barcelona. Laudrup’s
childhood hero Johan Cruyff was the head coach at the Nou Camp and it was he
who convinced the Dane to make transfer to a club that was making big plans to recapture
success at home and in Europe.
Laudrup became a massive part of the so-called Barcelona ‘Dream team’
that swept all before them with four consecutive La Liga titles between
1991-1994, a Copa del Rey triumph in ’89 and the crowning glory of a European
Cup victory in 1992. It was a golden period for the club and the
technically-gifted playmaker Laudrup was integral to the side’s success. His
skill, poise, passing and dribbling ability marked him out as one the most
gifted footballers of his generation.
His international career went through a highly turbulent era while
playing in Spain when he and others fell out with coach Richard Møller Nielsen
three games into qualifying for Euro ’92. It was November 1990 when Laudrup
announced his retirement from national team duty and his country missed out on
tournament qualification initially. But, of course, Yugoslavia were omitted
from the competition at the last-minute allowing Denmark a reprieve as
replacements. Against all odds, Denmark went all the way to trophy-winning
glory, while Laudrup watched from afar on holiday. After much consideration, he
returned to Nielsen’s squad in 1993 but couldn’t help his country to qualify
for the ’94 World Cup.
Back to club duty, the most controversial move of his career occurred when
the attacking midfielder joined Real Madrid. The Spanish media were convinced
that Laudrup had moved to the capital simply to upset Johan Cruyff, whom he’d
fallen out with towards the end of his time with Barcelona. The Dane
strenuously denied this by pointing out that Real Madrid were a club hungry to
win, much like Barça had been when he signed for them. Laudrup liked
the challenge of getting a club back on top after a few years of playing second
fiddle to their rivals; he’d done just that with Barça, but now he had switched to Real in an attempt to achieve the reverse.
It proved to be a great call as Real
Madrid put an end to the dominance of Barça in La Liga, which
also meant the Dane became the first player ever to win the Spanish league five
years in a row with two different clubs. It was a huge achievement with
significant repercussions across the Spanish game, as the country now had two
titanic clubs both good enough to win the title and Laudrup was the player that
linked them. Would the Barcelona fans turn against their one-time hero?
A disappointing second season in Madrid
was to follow, as Real failed to maintain their supremacy in La Liga. However,
Laudrup helped his country to qualification for Euro 1996 by scoring 4 goals in
10 matches, but the tournament itself was a let-down for the nation.
The J-League in Japan was a burgeoning
football league at the time, much like MLS now, and Laudrup decided he would
like a new adventure with Vissel Kobe. He took his fledgling club to promotion
to the top-flight of Japanese football, before ending his club career back in
Europe and in sparkling fashion with a title-winning season with Ajax in
Holland.
His swansong as a player came at the
French World Cup of 1998 where he captained the national side on the road to
the quarter-final stage. They narrowly lost out 3-2 to eventual runners-up Brazil
at the last-eight stage in one of the matches of the tournament.
Laudrup was a remarkably skilful,
stylish player that transcended the rivalry between two of the world’s biggest
clubs and enjoyed a hugely successful time with both. The fans of both Real
Madrid and Barcelona hold Laudrup in such high esteem that the majority of
supporters would happily see him back at their respective sides in a coaching
capacity in the future. There aren’t many people in the world of football that
can truly say they are an icon at both clubs!
You can follow me on Twitter: @davewh1980
