Bernd Schuster, Diego Maradona‘s teammate when the pair were at Barcelona, has revealed that Barcelona “didn’t know how to take advantage” of him while he was at the club.
Schuster was speaking after news of Maradona’s death at the age of 60 in Argentina. “We left him alone on the field,” he said to Onda Cero’s El Transistor in comments carried by Diario Sport.
“We didn’t know how to take advantage of Diego. He was an undisputed leader on the field and we didn’t know how to take advantage of him.”
During the two seasons Maradona spent at Barcelona, the club won one Copa Del Rey, one League Cup and one Spanish Super Cup. “He was a leader on the field,” Schuster continued. “They hit him with very ugly tackles but he kept asking for the ball.”
Touching on his personal relationship with Maradona, Schuster said they shared a passion for football. “we admired each other in the way our teams played,” he said. “Personally, he always asked for me and my family.”
Schuster spent 13 years of his career in Spain, playing for Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid. He also spent five years as a West German international. As coach, Schuster has led Levante, Getafe, Madrid and Malaga in La Liga.
Maradona had three significant moments in Spain. He played in the 1982 World Cup hosted by the country, before the two year spell with Barcelona and a season with Sevilla, a decade apart and either side of his peak with Napoli in Italy. He won the 1986 World Cup with Argentina in Mexico.
Featured image courtesy of Diario Sport.
