'When I looked up towards the stands I was paralysed,' the Dane recalls. 'It was two hours of horror.'

Laudrup had committed the cardinal sin of moving directly from Barcelona to Real Madrid, two of the most bitter rivals in European football.

On Saturday, when Luis Figo emerges from the players' tunnel at the Nou Camp for the Spanish league match between Barca and Real, he can expect the same treatement that was meted out to Laudrup, with 98,000 fans set to vent their anger at their former hero.

The mystery surrounding Figo's world record £43million move to the Bernabeu has still not quite been cleared up.

All that is known for certain is that at some point over the summer Figo signed a legally binding agreement with Real presidential candidate Florentino Perez to join the club if his election bid was successful.

No one gave Perez a chance, given that he was up against Lorenzo Sanz -- the man who had brought the club two European Cup triumphs in three seasons.

Perez's camp leaked the news of Figo's signing, though, and despite the player's repeated denials it helped tip the balance in his favour and the Portuguese forward was left with no choice but to move.

Because of the system of buy-out clauses in players' contracts in Spain, Barcelona had no say in the matter. Real simply deposited the 10,000 million pesetas stipulated in his contract with the Spanish League and Figo was their player.

Laudrup was the last man before Figo to move directly from Barcelona to Real Madrid.

The two transfers have little in common. The Danish forward was at the end of his contract and had full freedom of movement when he opted to join Madrid in July 1994, six weeks after deciding he had no future under Barca coach Johan Cruyff.

The openness with which he conducted business did nothing to stem the tide of vitriol that greeted his return to the Nou Camp, though.

Placards around the ground proclaimed 'Laudrup Judas, Laudrup traitor' while fans screamed abuse every time he touched the ball -- this to the man who had led the 'Dream Team' to four successive league titles.

When he was substituted on 66 minutes it must have seemed a blessed relief.

'I went through one of the worst moments of my life,' Laudrup recalled in an interview with As newspaper published this week.

'My circumstances had nothing in common with Figo's but the hostile reception will be exactly the same.'

Figo has been doing his best to play down the likely reaction to his return to Barcelona.

'It's a big game but I believe people are speculating too much about me playing at the Nou Camp again,' he told Real Madrid TV this week.

'Barcelona are playing against Real Madrid, not against Luis Figo.

'The supporters can express themselves in any way they see fit but I hope it doesn't last the whole 90 minutes.'

That may be hoping for too much, although the offical line from Barcelona -- and from some supporters' groups -- is that the crowd should not cross the line and become insulting.

Barca president Joan Gaspart, while encouraging fans to be 'authentic', has warned that they should not do anything that could be regarded as unsporting.

The last word, however, may yet go to Figo himself. A couple of years back, as Barcelona celebrated the league title with a parade through the city, Figo was caught on camera chanting, 'Madrid, cry babies, salute the champions.'