Milan, Sep 12: AC Milan and Italy legend Paolo Maldini has named the two hardest rivals that he confronted throughout his long and illustrious career, Argentine legend Diego Maradona and Brazil Legend Ronaldo De Lima.
Maldini made his first competitive debut in Milan Jersey in 1985 and went ahead to play 24 years for the club and meantime won seven Serie A titles and the Champions League five times with them.
The Italian defender has faced many top class strikers and attackers in his whole career, however, in a recent interview, the Italian defender has conceded that these two South American legends were the players that gave him the hardest test on the pitch.
Maldini fought against Maradona in his primary years when both Napoli and Maradona were at the peak, and the Italian eventually won the league in 1988 beating them. Both the players then went ahead to confront each different various circumstances at the club and international level throughout the years.
The left back also had a tussling time with Brazil icon Ronaldo in his later years, when the World Cup winner was his rival club Inter.
"I was lucky enough to play against Maradona. He and Ronaldo, when he was at Inter Milan - they were my toughest opponents," Maldini explained in an interview with Bild.
Maldini also shared his opinion about the current batch of coaches and claimed that he likes the work of Simeone and Klopp as well as Zidane.
"The best coach right now? Hard to say. There are many good ones - like Diego Simeone. Maybe Zinedine Zidane, but he still lacks experience. I also like what Jürgen Klopp does in Liverpool and how he made Dortmund play."