"Maradona was already a god when he arrived at Barca, but he didn't show off"
![Bernd Schuster was close with Maradona at Barcelona. EFE](https://cdn.resfu.com/media/img_news/agencia-efe_multimedia_3987325.multimedia.photos.15467885.file.jpg?size=1000x&lossy=1)
During Diego Armando Maradona's time at FC Barcelona, the 'Pelusa', who sadly passed away this week, met up with some of the great players of the time. Among them was the German Bernd Schuster.
The German, of rough character, had a great bond with the talented Argentinean player and felt a great pain with the news of his death, that has seen an outpouring of grief at a world-wide level.
"Diego! Buff! I didn't expect it... Not now. He seemed to have recovered from his surgery," Bernd said in the 'Süddeutschen Zeitung' about how he heard about his death.
In the same vein, the German recalled his time with Maradona at Barca. "The conversations with him were super interesting: how we saw and thought about football, how we played and wanted to experience the happiness of playing football. We were street players," he said.
Similarly, Schuster recalled what Diego's arrival at Camp Nou was like and how he immediately adapted to the team. "You could tell right away that he knew exactly who he was and why Barca had chosen him. Even as a youngster he was a god in Argentina. But he did not flaunt it like that. He was very happy to be with us," he said.