Zlatan Ibrahimovic offers BRUTAL Barcelona verdict

FT Desk

• Updated: 2 Nov 2022 19:35 GMT
• 3 min read

AC Milan star Zlatan Ibrahimovic has described his one season at Barcelona as the “worst memory” of his career.

Ibrahimovic joined the Catalans in the summer of 2009 as Barca not only splashed out around €68m for the Inter Milan star, they also handed over a world-class attacker in Samuel Eto’o.

Although Zlatan’s goal record was good – 21 goals in 45 games on the way to winning La Liga and five trophies in one year – his time in Catalunya soon turned sour.

He fell out with Pep Guardiola, lost his place in the starting XI as Messi was converted into a False 9, and suffered the ignominy of seeing Eto’o and Inter beat Barcelona in the Champions League semi-finals the following season.

After just one year at Camp Nou he returned to San Siro - with AC Milan - for a cut-price €24m.

What did Zlatan say?

"My worst memory? I think it was Barcelona, but not for football. There, it's happened to me to think too much," he told Canal Plus.

"Yes I disappointed myself. I did things differently. I thought twice before acting and I disappointed myself. I lost my identity there. Afterwards, I found it again, and that allowed me to conquer the world."

Zlatan never truly fitted into Pep’s tiki-taka system. He was accused of taking too many touches, slowing the game down and not being mobile like the rest of his teammates.

On the other side, Zlatan accused Pep of treating his players like obedient schoolchildren.

"You bought a Ferrari and drove it like a Fiat," Zlatan famously said of Pep's restrictive tactics with him.

Despite Zlatan’s disappointment with Barcelona, he will still be remembered as one of the greatest players of his generation.

He has scored over 500 career club goals, and won an incredible 14 league titles with Ajax, Juventus, Inter, AC Milan and PSG.