5 of the best Player-Manager combinations of all time in football

#3 Diego Maradona-Carlos Bilardo

Carlos Bilardo and Diego Maradona led Argentina to the 1986 World Cup trophy

It was not easy to manage a mercurial but incredibly gifted Maradona, but Bilardo managed to do that in the 1986 World Cup and those two wrote the most glorious chapter in the history of Argentine football together.

Maradona was almost indescribably good in that tournament and almost single-handedly won them the trophy. He scored 5 goals in the tournament including one against England that is still considered to be the “goal of the century”.

Bilardo was cautious in his approach and his teams usually gave more emphasis on defence. However, the 1986 team revolved around Maradona and players like Jorge Valdano, Burruchaga and Brown only complimented him to win the coveted trophy.

Bilardo and Maradona again led Argentina to another World Cup final in 1990 but lost to West Germany. Those two had an infamous fall-out much later and their relationship became strained, but that has nothing to do with the fact that they were a brilliant combination for Argentine football.