They have history.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic has stoked the flames of his long-standing rivalry with Pep Guardiola by calling him the ‘most immature manager’ he has ever worked with.
The pair worked together at Barcelona during the 2009/10 season, before the Swedish striker left for AC Milan after just one year at the Camp Nou.
Ibrahimovic has now revived their rivalry, with the Manchester United forward speaking openly about his experience of playing under Guardiola at Barcelona in an interview with Sky Sports Italy.
https://twitter.com/ZeFutbolWriter/status/940578583847866373
“The first six months were perfect, then the manager changed system, tactics and it didn’t work for me,” the Swede said.
“I went to talk to him. I’m here to talk, if you think it’s for another reason then we can’t talk. I said: ‘I believe that you are sacrificing some players for one player, Messi’. He said: ‘I don’t think this is the case but I understand what you say. I will take care of it, no problem, I will solve everything’. I thought it would be OK. The following game I was on the bench. I don’t say anything, I work. Second match, bench again. I thought he solved it well and he was not talking to me or explaining. Third match, bench. Then the fourth match comes and bench again. I think something is strange. From that moment he stopped talking to me, looking at me. I go into a room and he walks out of it. He was not a bad person, but the most immature I’ve had because a man solves his problems.”
Ibrahimovic lifted the lid on his frustrating spell at the Catalan giants in his much-discussed I Am Zlatan book, in which he called the Manchester City manager a ‘spineless coward.’ The 36-year-old played 10 minutes against City on Sunday and was reportedly the subject of insults by their coaching staff during the tunnel melee that has dominated the post-match fallout.
