Paolo Maldini reveals he ‘felt ashamed and had to apologise’ to Diego Maradona after seeing clips of them together. ‘I was always late on him.’
Some of the greatest Scudetto races in Serie A history were between Maradona’s Napoli and the Grande Milan of the late 1980s, early 1990s.
Maldini had to mark El Pibe de Oro a few times and fully admits it was an impossible task.
“You could not catch him,” Maldini told Telefoot in France ahead of tonight’s Lille-Milan match in the Europa League.
“I was next to him at the Serie A Hall of Fame awards and they showed some of our footage together. I always considered myself a very fair defender, but I have to admit in those videos I was doing some horrible fouls on him, but it was only because he always anticipated me and I was therefore late.
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“He was so quick and was kicked to pieces all through his career, all through the game. I felt ashamed and apologised to him after that clip.
“I also realised even more than I had remembered just how quickly he controlled the ball and changed direction. He really was extraordinary.”
Maradona died on Wednesday at the age of 60.