Inter Milan Legend Maicon: “Adriano Didn’t Just Beat Paolo Maldini, He Steamrollered Him” | OneFootball

Former Inter Milan wingback Maicon recalled the impact that striker Adriano made at the club and felt he was the best of an elite group of strikers at the Nerazzurri’s disposal.

Adriano proved to be hugely prolific at Inter from 2004 until 2009 and appearing on Brazilian football podcast Charla, and as reported by FCInterNews.it, Maicon was full of praise for his teammate.

“Zlatan Ibrahimovic adored Adriano and if you look at the pairings there was Hernan Crespo and Julio Cruz who weren’t bad either,” the former Roma and Manchester City defender stated.

“Hernan was a phenomenon when it came to scoring headers.

“However Adriano faced players like (Khakha) Kaladze and (Paolo) Maldini and beat them on his own, to beat Maldini you can’t just be anyone.

“Adriano didn’t beat him, he steamrollered him!”

The former Brazil international recounted an anecdote from his time under Jose Mourinho, as Inter prepared to face Juventus in Serie A.

“I remember that we were in the national team and Jose Mourinho called me, asking me how Adriano was because he wanted to play him against Juventus a few days later.

“He and Ibra destroyed the Bianconeri defence. There was a defender, Nicola Legrottaglie, poor guy, I thought he wouldn’t sleep that night”.

Maicon joined Inter from Monaco in 2006 and went on to make 249 appearances for the Nerazzurri, scoring 20 goals and helping the team win four Serie A titles and the Champions League in 2010.