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Platini, together with Cruyff and Puskás, is one of the greatest European players of all time. A footballer of innate elegance, though do not be misled, he was also extraordinarily effective, he was the heart and symbol of Juventus in the early 1980s as well as of the French national team that won the European Championship in 1984. It was at Juventus, in one of the most difficult and competitive leagues in the world, that Platini dominated the stage in incredible fashion, and he did so in his own way: pinpoint passes, free kicks into the top corner, and an exceptional instinct for goal, scoring 16, 20, and 18 goals in his first three seasons, all from midfield, numbers typical of a pure striker. His technical repertoire was immense and he rarely made mistakes. It must be said that the team around him allowed him to express himself to the fullest, making it reductive to define him as a simple number 10. Platini was far more than that. Like Maradona and Zico, though in a different way, he could be both a playmaker and a forward depending on the situation. He loved to orchestrate play and set up his teammates, but his tactical intelligence allowed him to move into spaces like a natural goalscorer. Compared to Zidane, with whom he shared a natural elegance, he was less physical and powerful, but more decisive in front of goal and even more effective in dribbling, which for Zidane was often more about evasion than beating his man. Platini retired early, at just 31 and at the peak of his powers, but in those years he managed to win three consecutive Ballon d’Or awards, in 1983, 1984, and 1985, a testament to his incredible dominance on every level.
