Michael Laudrup is a former professional football player and manager from Denmark. He has played for teams like Juventus, Barcelona, and Real Madrid. He was named the Danish Player of the Year in 1982 and 1985. In the 1991-1992 season, he was named the Don Balón Award – La Liga Best Foreign Player of the Year.
As a manager, he was named the Danish Manager of the Year in the 2002–03 and 2004–05 seasons.
Player Profile, Personal Life, and Youth Career
Michael Laudrup was born on June 15, 1964, in Frederiksberg, Denmark. He comes from a family with three generations of football players. His uncle is Ebbe Skovdahl and his father is Fin Laudrup. He is also the father of Mads Laudrup and Andreas Laudrup, who both play football professionally.
Michael’s brother Brian Laudrup also played football professionally.
Laudrup’s youth career began in 1971. He played for Vanlose for four years before he played for a season with Brondy. From 1974 to 1980, he played for KB.
Professional Career
His professional career began with him playing for KB for a short while. He only appeared in 14 matches for the club in 1981. He later signed to play for Brondy for a season before he moved to [[Lazio].
After two seasons with Lazio, he began playing for [[Juventus]. In his 103 appearances with the club, he helped them win the Serie A title in the 1985-1986 season. They also won the 1985 Intercontinental Cup.
After Juventus, he was signed by FC Barcelona and he played with them from 1989 to 1994. Then from 1994 to 1996, he played for Real Madrid. He retired as a player in 1998 but before that, he played for a season each with Vissel Kobe and Ajax.
In 2004, he was named to the FIFA 100. In 2006, he was heralded as Denmark’s Best Player of All Time, and then in 2015, he was honored as the Scandinavia Best Player Ever. He has been inducted into the Danish Football Hall of Fame.
His management career went from 2000 to 2018. Some of the teams he managed include Mallorca, Swansea City, Al Rayyan, Brondy, Spartak Moscow, and Getafe. From 2000-2002, he was also an assistant manager for the Denmark National Football Team.
Career Highlights:
Player
Juventus
- Serie A - 1985–86
- Intercontinental Cup - 1985
Barcelona
- La Liga - 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93,1993–94
- Copa del Rey - 1989–90
- Supercopa de España - 1991, 1992
- European Cup - 1991–92
- UEFA Super Cup - 1992
Real Madrid
- La Liga - 1994–95
Ajax
- Eredivisie - 1997–98
- KNVB Cup - 1997–98
Denmark
- FIFA Confederations Cup - 1995
Individual
- Danish Player of the Year - 1982,1985
- Don Balón Award – La Liga BestForeign Player of the Year - 1991–92
- ESM Team of the Year - 1994–95
- FIFA XI (Reserve) - 1996
- FIFA World Cup All-Star Team - 1998
- Best Foreign Player in SpanishFootball in the last 25 years -1974–1999
- UEFA Golden Player (Greatest DanishFootballer of the last 50 Years) -2003
- FIFA 100 - 2004
- Denmark’s Best Player of All Time -2006
- Scandinavia Best Player Ever - 2015
- Danish Football Hall of Fame
- World Soccer The Greatest Players ofthe 20th century - The 100 GreatestFootballers of All Time
Manager
Brøndby
- Danish Superliga - 2004–05
- Danish Cup - 2002–03, 2004–05
- Danish League Cup - 2005
- Danish Supercup - 2002
Swansea City
- Football League Cup - 2012–13
Lekhwiya
- Qatar Stars League - 2014–15
- Crown Prince Cup - 2014–15
Individual
- Danish Manager of the Year -2002–03, 2004–05
- Qatar Stars League Manager of theMonth - August 2014, December 2014
Team History:
National Career
- 1982–1998 - Denmark
Management Career
- 2000–2002 - Denmark (AssistantManager)
- 2002–2006 - Brøndby
- 2007–2008 - Getafe
- 2008–2009 - Spartak Moscow
- 2010–2011 - Mallorca
- 2012–2014 - Swansea City
- 2014–2015 - Lekhwiya
- 2016–2018 - Al Rayyan
