Michael Laudrup departed from Barcelona in 1994 and it was pretty controversial. However, the departure was necessary.
The relationship of great Dane with Johan Cruyff, the manager had risen beyond belief. He had described Laudrup as one of the toughest players he has managed and attempted to deploy the conflict approach of Rinus Michels to man-management in a bid for maximizing the talent of the genius creator.
The model of Cruyff hardly served as an irritant to Laudrup who Michael Cox described as a nervous and reserved footballer in his book Zonal Marking, and needed a more delicate treatment.
Hence, by the time the final of the Champions League rolled out, any connection between the manager and the player was anonymous. Laudrup had been removed from European epilogues in Athens as Milan of Fabio Capello trounced over a weak Dream Team in a victory of 4-0.
Fabio Capello said that Laudrup was the guy he feared but Cruyff left him out and it had been a mistake.
As he already signed a contract with Catalonia, the Dane chose in the summer for imitating the controversial departure of Cruyff's to the fierce rivals Feyenoord of Ajax 11 years before by joining the side of Real Madrid for re-establishing themselves among the elite on a free transfer of the continent.
It showed that losing his services to one of the key rivals rapidly modified an untouchable side into an unsafe one.
Michel Platini said that Michael had everything except that he was not selfish enough.
After an underwhelming performance at Juventus, as they were expected to evolve into the leading protagonist of Bianconeri after the retirement of Michel Platini in 1987, Michael Laudrup joined hands with Cruyff, his childhood idol where he had emerged as one of the greatest innovations of the Dutchman.