The Older, The More Indulgent Opponent's Provocation, What's Wrong With Zlatan?
JAKARTA - AC Milan are at the top of the Serie A standings and are enjoying their best season in a decade. However, you can never realize their accomplishments by simply observing Zlatan Ibrahimovic's behavior on the pitch.
The Swedish player always has big ambitions to win the title. However, in his old age, he looked even more angry and tense than before.
In his last three appearances, the 39-year-old has been fond of using harsh words to his opponents. Here, VOI quotes from MARCA, a list of players who have clashed with Zlatan.
War with Romelu LukakuThe Milan derby will always be tense. That also happened in the Coppa Italia quarter-finals on Tuesday. However, no one believed it when they saw the scene that took place between Zlatan and Lukaku.
Zlatan angered Lukaku to a degree never seen before. He said “go do your voodoo s ** t” and took Lukaku's mother's name.
Lukaku went berserk, replying to Zlatan with "F * ck you and your wife, you little b * tch". Fortunately, he could refrain from hitting his former Manchester United teammate.
Finally, it was the Inter forward who laughed the last, scoring a penalty in the 2-1 win. Meanwhile, Zlatan, received a second yellow card and was sent off.
Harsh Words to Duvan ZapataIn the previous match, Duvan Zapata of Atalanta was the subject of Zlatan's attention. As VAR reviewed a possible penalty in favor of AC Milan, the Colombian said something.
“You can't finish the game without penalty, do you want (penalty) the 13th? Duvan asked.
Zlatan, the man who never misses an opportunity to beat his opponent, responded by saying "I have scored more goals than the games you have played in your career".
However, once again Zlatan had to keep his big mouth shut. The Nerazzurri forward laughed at the end of the match. He scored Atalanta's third goal in a 3-0 win.
Going for Diego GodinBefore Atalanta, AC Milan faced Cagliari in Sardinia. Zlatan scored twice in his team's win.
But again, there was tension between Zlatan and Diego Godin. The two faced each other, and the Swede said some provocative things to the Uruguayan.
Threatening Nedum OnuohaEven in MLS, Zlatan provoked opponents. During the Los Angeles Galaxy match against Real Salt Lake, the Swede uttered a number of provocative words at Onuoha.
"During the match he threatened me," said Onuoha later.
"He said that he was going to hurt me. He came to apologize after that, but this is the man who is the face of MLS. That's not acceptable."
Gripped Simon Kjaer's throatAlthough Kjaer is now Zlatan's teammate at AC Milan, they have been head to head at the club before.
Zlatan (striker) was at Manchester United and Kjaer (defender) played for Fenerbahce in a match, the Turkish team won 2-1.
The player who always considered himself a god was angry and grabbed Kjaer by the neck. But Kjaer was not afraid.
"I'm not surprised by what he did," said Kjaer.
"Football is a game and I don't take what he does too seriously. I didn't hear what he said, but I know he is not happy.
"He's a player who puffs out his chest, he's very arrogant on the pitch. I know how he reacted. "