When you take a look at the Serie A table, what you see is a league filled with some of the worlds greatest clubs. These are clubs that get sports fans excited and clubs that see gambling enthusiasts wagering on which one is going to come out on top. Seeing names such as Roma, AC Milan, and Juventus shows you just what this league is all about.
Pinpointing just three players who have left their mark in this league is no easy task. There are at least 50 who deserve some recognition for how their style of play went on to transform the game. For now, though, we must settle on three, so here are they are.
Diego Maradona
Napoli 1984 – 1991
When it comes to Maradona, he’s not just one the greatest Serie A players, he is simply one of the greatest players ever to grace this earth. In a career that spanned some 20 years, he played for 10 in Europe. As you can see, the majority of this time was dedicated to Napoli. 1984 saw Maradona playing at his absolute best so for Napoli, this was perfect timing.
His move to Napoli saw a record-breaking fee of $10.48 million being paid. The truth is that Napoli certainly got value for money. During his time with the club, he led them to two league titles, a Coppa Italia, a UEFA Cup, and a Supercoppa. His 81 goals across the course of his time at Napoli certainly contributed to the clubs’ success.
Maradona was a character, to say the least. He had numerous problems away from the pitch, but when it was on it he was nothing short of being a genius. Napoli recognised this and when he retired, the club retired his number 10 shirt in his honour.
Robert Baggio
Fiorentina 1985 – 1990
Juventus 1990 – 1995
AC Milan 1995 – 1997
Bologna 1997 – 1998
Inter 1998 – 2000
Brescia 2000 – 2004
Nicknamed ‘the Divine Ponytail’, Baggio certainly got around a lot during his 19-year career. His skills and touch of class saw him playing for no fewer than six top-flight teams in Serie A. His career was dogged by injury and the truth is that without this he would have gone on to achieve even more. That being said, his achievements were still plentiful.
He was known as a specialist player. He could certainly go and net his own goals, but his style meant that he was equally capable of setting them up for others. His pace, vision, and technique saw him become one of the greatest goal makers in the history of Serie A.
Baggio has the honour of being one of only six players to have scored more than 200 goals in Serie A. His sheer class and natural ability saw him being awarded FIFA World Player of the Year in 1994.
Paolo Maldini
Milan 1985 – 2009
In stark contrast to Baggio, Maldini was strictly a one-club man. Given the length of his time at Milan, you’d expect for him to have made a few appearances. In fact, he racked up a record 902 games for the club with over 600 of these being in Serie A.
Maldini appeared in the Milan lineup from the age of 17. He went on to play in eight Champions league Finals, losing three and winning five. Starting at such a young age, he went on to be the oldest player of all time to score in a Champions League Final and he also holds the record for the fastest goal scored in a final (51 seconds)
He retired with the reputation as one of the best players that Serie A has ever produced.
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