Barcelona have confirmed they will pay tribute to the legendary Diego Maradona by facing Argentinian side Boca Juniors in what is being called the ‘Maradona Cup’.
It was from Boca that Maradona joined Barcelona back in 1982, with the Catalan giants paying a then-record £5m to land the tricky forward’s signature. Maradona spent two years at Camp Nou, winning the Copa del Rey, Spanish Super Cup and the now defunct Spanish League Cup.
To pay tribute to Maradona, who passed away in November 2020, Barcelona took to their official website to confirm a friendly has been set up with Boca which will be held at Mrsool Park in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, on December 14.
The ‘Maradona Cup’ has been designed solely to remember the life of Maradona, and will give fans across the world one more chance to pay tribute to the iconic World Cup winner.
Barcelona squared off against Boca Juniors back in 2018, with the former emerging with a 3-0 victory in the Joan Gamper Trophy.
A boyhood fan of Boca, Maradona joined the club in 1981 after five successful years with Argentinos Juniors, but dominated during his debut season and swiftly earned himself a world-record move to Barcelona a year later.
Life at Camp Nou was not always particularly smooth for Maradona, who battled both off-field issues and numerous injury problems which restricted him to 58 appearances, after which he secured a £6.9m move to Napoli – breaking his own transfer record in the process.
It was in Naples that Maradona spent the best period of his career. He managed seven seasons with the Partenopei, leading them to two Serie A titles and the UEFA Cup.
During his time with Napoli, Maradona also elevated his game on the international stage, steering Argentina to World Cup glory in 1986.