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BRIAN LAUDRUP has admitted he snubbed a switch to Barcelona weeks after joining Rangers - a decision that left even Ibrox boss Walter Smith in a state of shock.

The Dane had fallen in love with football again in Govan but revealed gaffer Smith was stunned to hear he would rather face Falkirk than head for the Spanish top flight.

The man who won three Scottish titles at Ibrox insists Johan Cruyff's bid to lure him to the Nou Camp was always doomed - because he had watched older brother Michael fall out of love with life and boss Cruyff at Barca.

Michael Laudrup was a celebrated member of Barcelona's 'Dream Team' that won the European Cup against Sampdoria at Wembley in 1992 and four La Liga titles in a row.

But it all turned sour when Michael fell out with Cruyff two years later.

The Dane sat in the stand of Athens' Olympic Stadium for the 1994 Champions League Final against Brian's AC Milan - as did his brother - and that triggered Michael's dramatic defection to Real Madrid.

Brian penned a deal with the Light Blues that summer and having instantly warmed to Smith's style of management, he was in no mood to jump ship to the Catalan cracks.

He said: "I could have signed for Barcelona after five months at Rangers. I told Walter that I did not want to go. He looked at me and said, 'Brian, you've turned down Barcelona?' I said I would prefer to play against Falkirk.

"My years at Rangers were the happiest of my career. Finally, I had a manager who told me to go and play with freedom. Compare that to Milan, where boss Fabio Capello told me to stick to the right flank and just run up and down in straight lines.

"Capello was tough and unapproachable but you'd go out on to the pitch at Rangers thinking you owed Walter a result."

Another key reason in saying no to the Nou Camp was Laudrup's fear he would become a victim of the UEFA rule in the 1990s that teams could only have three foreign players on the pitch at any one time.

Cruyff's addition of Romario after lifting the European Cup in '92 meant Michael Laudrup was the regular member of the Dream Team's foreign trio to be axed, instead of Ronald Koeman or Hristo Stoichkov.

Brian said: "My loan move to AC Milan from Fiorentina in 1993 was never right.

"It was the time of the three-foreigner rule and Milan already had five, so I never really felt part of things.

"I played for Milan in the 1994 Champions League semi-final against Monaco but I was dropped for the Final against Barcelona.

"My brother Michael was at Barca at the same time and a victim of the rule, too. We sat in the stadium, 200 yards apart, laughing at the situation."

Laudrup won a Serie A title in his one year on loan at Milan, but only started nine games.

In contrast, his four years at Ibrox delivered three titles on the spin, a Scottish Cup and a League Cup triumph - as well as eternal admiration from the Ibrox fans who fell in love with the gifted Dane's skills.

And he admits quitting in 1998 to join Chelsea was a huge mistake.

He said: "I had been in talks with Ruud Gullit but when I flew to London to meet him for the first time I was introduced to Gianluca Vialli instead.

"I was amazed to learn he was my new manager. Looking back, I should never have made the move. I tried to get out of it but Chelsea would not hear of it."

Brian has fought back from a recent cancer scare. Last September he discovered he had lymphoma but after three months of treatment he was told the disease had gone.

Now he works for Danish TV and will be in the studio for tonight's clash between Man United and Barca in the Champions League Final.

He said: "The football in the Champions League is incredible, better than the World Cup. I love to watch Barcelona in action."