La Liga has occupied a long part of his career in Maradona's football experience, with both Barcelona and Sevilla having had the Argentine legend. Maradona's younger brother, Hugo Maradona, also played in Granada. The recent reunion of Barcelona and Napoli in European competition also reminds us of this legend who will never fade away
The news of the death of Diego Maradona, just 60, shocked the entire football world in 2020. In Spain, people who have worked with him or who know him are very sad about it.
La Liga is Maradona's first leg in European football, and the Argentine legend joined Barcelona for a world-record transfer fee of $7.6 million after five and a half years of playing for his home country's Young Argentines and Boca Youth. Joan Gaspart, then-Barcelona vice-president, revealed in a later interview that the club's staff had put in great effort and countless toils to sign maradona.
Taking Maradona away from Buenos Aires is by no means an easy task, but it was all worth it and Barca acquired an absolute genius. Injuries have prevented the Argentine from making the number of appearances the club expected, but whenever he makes an appearance at Camp Nou, it has had a shocking effect.
Even at the home of rivals Real Madrid, Maradona is loved by fans. Bernabeu fans even applauded Barca after he scored a wonderful goal for barca and waved a white handkerchief in the air. The No. 10 player showed off his talent by passing the goalkeeper in the game and easily pushing the empty goal after easily avoiding defenders.
Maradona's then-teammate Lobo Carrasco recalled: "I remember when we trained with him early on, all the players were stunned by his performance and just looked at him in the same place".
In 1984, Maradona left Barcelona and began another legendary career at Napoli. In 1992, he returned to Spain to sign with Sevilla and reunited with Carlos Bilardo. Bilardo was Argentina's then-head coach who won the World Cup in Mexico in 1986, and Maradona was his right-hand man at the time.
The 1992/93 season was Maradona's only season for Sevilla and one that Sevilla will never forget. The Argentine star scored a goal in his debut at the Pisjuan Stadium and helped the team to a 1-0 win over rivals Zaragoza.
Maradona wasn't at his best with Sevilla as he hadn't played an official match for almost a year before that, but the Argentine still had a positive impact on the club as a whole. Fans come to the stadium early to see his attention and pleasing pre-match warm-ups, but he also serves as a very good role model for the young players in the team, benefiting from the current Atletico manager Diego Simeone and Sevilla sporting director Monchi.
Simeone recalls: "He helped me a lot in Seville". In addition, Munch often tells a story about Maradona's generous personality: "One day I was walking with Maradona, and he saw the Rolex in my hand, but I confessed to him that it was fake. Then one day after training, he gave me a piece of Cartier and told me that I wouldn't need to wear a fake watch in the future. “
Maradona had planned to spend some time in Seville and had already brought several of his cars to the city. But at the end of the 1992/93 season, he decided to leave Spain and return to Argentina.
Maradona has not only impressed fans of Barcelona and Sevilla, but also made his mark on Alicante, who represented Argentina at the World Cup at Barcelona and Alicante in 1982. In 1987, he even represented Granada in a friendly match against Sweden's Malmö, in which Maradona was played with his two brothers, Hugo Maradona and Lalo Maradona, in Camenes, the only time the Maradona brothers fought together.
Although Maradona only played for Spain for a few years, he returned home with a reputation in which the Argentine star scored 27 goals in 62 games and won three honours: the Copa del Rey, the League Cup and the Super Cup. His legendary story will not be forgotten by Barcelona, nor will it be forgotten by the world.
About La Liga
The Spanish professional football league LaLiga (La Liga) is a global, innovative and socially responsible sports league, as well as a leader in the field of leisure and entertainment. The league organizes the Spanish professional football leagues , La Liga and La Liga , with 20 La Liga clubs and 22 La Liga clubs , affecting more than 2.7 billion people worldwide in the 2019/20 season. Headquartered in Madrid, La Liga has 11 permanent offices and 46 foreign representatives in 55 countries and territories around the world. In 2014, La Liga opened an office in Shanghai, China. In 2020, La Liga, together with Mediapro and Xinying Sports, established a joint venture company SFCM, which continues to make efforts in the field of sponsorship and brand licensing. At the same time, the league is actively involved in social activities through its fund LaLiga Genuine, which is the only professional football league in the world with a league of intellectually handicapped players.