Michael is now a coach

Copenhagen: For a man who graced the finest stadiums around the world in a long and distinguished career, Michael Laudrup looks slightly out of place on a windswept training pitch on a bracing February afternoon in the southern suburbs of Copenhagen.

Laudrup and his brother Brian were arguably the finest footballers ever to come out of Denmark. Michael’s ability as an attacking midfielder with pace and vision earned him more than 100 international caps, took him to two World Cups and brought him an array of silverware with Juventus, Barcelona and Real Madrid.

Now 39, Laudrup is back at the club where he started his professional career in 1982, this time as coach of former Danish champions Brondby, and he is plotting the downfall of one of his former sides in the Uefa Cup.

Brondby’s compact stadium will be packed to the rafters Thursday when Barcelona visit for a third-round, first-leg clash — rekindling golden memories for Laudrup who spent five years as a Barca player in the early 1990s, a period when the side known as the ‘dream team’ ruled the roost in Spain. “I played for 15 years abroad and, no question, the five years I had at Barca, if you look at how we performed, were the best years of my career. We played so well and, importantly in football, we won a lot of titles. When I came to Barcelona in 1989 I think they had won three championships in 24 years. When I left in 1994 we had won four titles and a European Cup.

“That’s why everybody, even today 10 years after, still remembers the dream team.”

The side, under the guidance of Dutch master Johan Cruyff, won the Spanish title four seasons in a row and replicated their domestic success on the European stage with victory over Sampdoria in the 1992 European Cup final at Wembley.

Complementing the silky skills of Laudrup were talented but temperamental Bulgarian striker Hristo Stoichkov, equally feisty Brazil striker Romario and Dutch defender Ronald Koeman, as well as established Spanish players including Andoni Zubizarreta, Jose Mario Bakero and Jose Guardiola.