Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the drama he hid behind his Milan title and could take him away from football

Zlatan Ibrahimovic was crowned champion with Milan last Sunday at the age of 40 and the joy returned to Rossoneri. Ibra came for that, to raise a Scudetto that had been postponed for 11 years at the Lombardy institution. The Swede is the epitome of a group full of young people. Provided experience and leadership but he was present for a short time on the playing field.

A knee injury has left the striker on the bench most of the season and rumors of his lack of starting have begun to mount. What is happening? Is retirement near?

“For the last six months I have played without an anterior cruciate ligament“, Ibrahimovic explained in a letter he shared on his social networks.” I suffered more than 20 injections in six months. I had to remove fluids from my knee once a week for six months. I took painkillers every day for six months. ”

“I had not slept for almost six months because of the illness. He never suffered too much, on and off the pitch. I made something impossible, something possible. I think I have only one goal, to make my teammates and coaches Italian champions because I promised them “, he added. And he concluded:”Now I have a new anterior cruciate ligament and another trophy“.

The former player of Ajax, Juventus, Inter Milan, Barcelona and Manchester United, among other teams, underwent surgery on Wednesday to “permanently resolve joint instability by rebuilding the anterior cruciate ligament, which with lateral reinforcement and meniscus repair ”, as reported by AC Milan.

For this intervention you need to agree 7 to 8 months vacation for recovery. Italian media believes he will renew for another season, but he is already 41 years old. Will it reach the level of demand that top-level football needs? Time will tell. There is a lot of experience and quality for the striker, who is also a black belt in Taekwondo.

This was not the best season of his career. That said, his injuries only allow him to get into 23 of the 38 domestic championship games his team has lifted, most coming from the substitute bench. The executed knee and the Achilles tendon are a burden for the Swede. But now, Zlatan seems to have found the solution.

Ibra, owner of the Milan dressing room

The Milan title after 11 years

On Sunday, the city of Milan once again became the capital of Italian football. The Scudetto remained for Milan, who beat Sassuolo 3-0 as a guest and maintained a two-point difference over Inter’s Lautaro Martínez, who beat Sampdoria by the same score with a double by Joaquín Correa.

About 30,000 fans followed the match from Piazza Duomo, as Mapei’s small stadium has over 20,000 seats. But that’s where the party started, after the final whistle. The winners in the city of Reggio Emilia stormed the playing field and celebrated the title with the players after eleven years.

Although at that time not everyone was having fun. Someone cut a commemorative medal from coach Stefano Pioli, champion for the first time in his career, who pleaded: “I want to take it back, this is the first one I’ve won.” Pioli started his career in 2003 and celebrated after nearly two decades.

The Rossoneri team started to enjoy the title from the start of the match: after 36 minutes they had won 3-0, with two goals from Olivier Giroud and one from Kessie. Zlatan Ibrahimovic could even contribute, but he had a goal that was disallowed due to offside.

“My players are phenomenal. I’m happy for them, for me, for the squad, for the club and for the fans who deserve this Scudetto. I’m really happy. We are more fluid than Inter. The last game we lost was against Spezia and we shouldn’t have lost. The team didn’t give up, the players were amazing, both those who played more and those who played less. We deserved the Scudetto because we believed in it more, because we are a strong team and I had two great coaches like Maldini and Massara by my side ”, said the overjoyed Pioli throughout the celebration.

The 56-year-old added: “My coaching staff and I are very happy working with these people. We wanted to improve on the championship last year and we know that if we do we will fight for something important. We will a strong team that has always believed in us. We have been brave. It is a path that has led us to be the strongest “.

Pioli dedicated the title to his father: “I’m sure that wherever he is, he will be happy and proud of what I have done”. The festivities continued until the long hours of the evening in Piazza Duomo. The bus arrived there with the champions, who traveled 155 kilometers from Reggio Emilia in just two hours. The party will continue this Monday with a parade across the Lombard city.

Paolo Maldini was happy too. Multi-champion as a player, he is now celebrating for the first time as sports director. “As a player it’s different because a lot of your energy is released on the playing field. From this place is not possible, the family has to endure at home. My career as a sporting director only existed because Milan was there. Building a team is a different responsibility than when I was a player ”.

Inter, who will also play in the next edition of the Champions League, beat Sampdoria 3-0 with goals from Ivan Perisic and two from Joaquín Correa of ​​Argentina, who played as striker alongside Lautaro Martínez.

In addition to Milan and Inter, in the Champions League there will be Napoli, who beat Spezia 3-0 with goals from Politano, Zielinski and Demme, and Juventus, who lost to Fiorentina on Saturday.

In the other two games of the last date, a relegation was defined between the two teams. And Salernitana was saved despite a 4-0 home defeat against Udinese (goals by Deulofeu, Nestorovski, Udogie and Argentine Roberto Pereyra. On the other hand, Cagliari, who could have saved the win, equalized 0-0 as a guest with Venezia, who have already lost, and Genoa will be another Serie B player next season.

With information from agencies.