Zlatan Ibrahimovic Never Won a Champions League. Here's Why.
To understand the persona of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, I'll use a reference from Diego Maradona's documentary: there was Diego, the poor kid from the Buenos Aires slums who only wanted to play football; then there was Maradona, the man who the media knew as the partying, self-absorbed, self-dubbed "best player in the world." The same can be said for Ibrahimovic: there was Ibrahimovic, the Swedish striker that could kick 40-yard bangers into the net with ease; then there was Zlatan, the trash-talking, cocky, third-person-referencing player who carried a huge chip on his shoulders. Fans loved Zlatan for his boldness and brashness, but there were times when they hated him for his attitude. But it is important to understand that this was part of Zlatan's development as a player and a person.
In 1995, Zlatan began his senior career with Malmo FF, his hometown club in Sweden. By the turn of the Millenium, it was pretty clear that the young Zlatan was destined to be a magnificent footballer for the big leagues. Before he got the chance to taste glory, he had to prove himself with a bigger club than Malmo. In July 2001, he joined Ajax in the Netherlands for a fee worth about $8 million. It was well documented in his own documentary, Becoming Zlatan, that he didn't particularly enjoy life in the Dutch league or the role he had with Ajax. Most of his accomplishments with the Amsterdam-based club was largely overshadowed by an incident during a match between Sweden and the Netherlands in 2004, where Zlatan injured his Ajax teammate Rafael van der Vaart, after which van der Vaart accused Zlatan of intentionally injuring him. The big accomplishments Zlatan had at Ajax was in 2001-02 with his 5 goals scored in the Champions League, leading his club to the quarterfinals until they were eliminated by AC Milan. The young Ibrahimovic wasn’t really a Champions League quality striker but his early glimpses in competition were signs of a strong career to come.
After Ajax, Zlatan moved to Italian superclub Juventus in 2004 for a deal of around $16 million. Zlatan openly desired to play in Italy, the country which had the strongest and toughest league in the world at this point in time. In his first season, Juventus reached the quarterfinals of the Champions League but were promptly eliminated by eventual champions, Liverpool. Still, the young Zlatan scored 16 goals and cracked the Starting XI. He was becoming more valuable as a player and even stronger as a competitor. He even won Serie A's award for the best foreign player following the 2004-05 season. Sadly, his form with Juventus didn't last; a tough 05-06 season saw his production diminish mightily. He was moved out of a central role and utilized as more of a winger. To cap it all off, Arsenal eliminated Juventus in the Champions League again, and to make it even worse, a match-fixing scandal involving Juventus was uncovered by the Italian football association. The club was stripped of two Serie A titles and relegated to Serie B. Juventus tried to keep Zlatan on the books, but he had no desire to play for a lower-tier club. Early into his career, the two sides of him were easily noticed: Ibrahimovic was a fantastic goalscorer when utilized correctly. But Zlatan, he wanted to be the best and he wanted to win a European trophy badly enough that he even asked his agent to take legal action if Juventus didn't sell him to a top-flight club. He came so close to Champions League glory with Ajax and Juventus, he didn't want to waste time fighting for promotion in Serie B. The next chapter in his career presented him with ample chances to reach glory.
Following the scandal, Zlatan was sold to Inter Milan in August 2006 for $25 million. Inter Milan is considered to be the team where Zlatan's eliteness truly developed. In his first season in blue and black, Zlatan helped Inter reach the 2006 Supercoppa Italiana, which they ultimately won, scored the game-winning goal in the Milan derby, and recoded 97 points en route to Inter's Serie A triumph. Domestically, Zlatan was sparkling again, but on the European stage, things were not going as well. Inter were eliminated early on in the 2006-07 season and their troubles in the Champions League carried over into the following seasons Zlatan was with the club. He continued to dazzle for Inter in Serie A as his 17 goals in 2007-08 helped secure another Serie A title and another Supercoppa. This was the prime Zlatan. He scored goals with ease and built great team chemistry. Here was the Imbrahimovic side, leading teams to titles. The Zlatan side was getting cocky and tired of not reaching the Champions League final. When it came time to join a new side, Zlatan didn't balk at the opportunity. His performances for Inter earned him such recognition that a club just entering their peak years wanted his services badly.
A deal was drawn up in July 2009 between Inter and Barcelona: Samuel Eto'o of Barca would join Inter with Zlatan heading the other way to the Catalonian club, along with future considerations. For Barcelona, they were the reigning Champions League winners and they boasted one of the deepest and strongest squads in all of Europe, complete with the next all-time great player, Lionel Messi. Zlatan loved the idea of joining a side like Barcelona, but there were signs things weren't going to work out in Spain. First, a loan deal involving Inter and Barca fullback Alexander Hleb, one of the future considerations, fell through, meaning Barca had to pay the full fee of $69 million still left on Zlatan's release clause. The original swap dealing involving Eto'o was successful, but because the loan deal for Hleb didn't come to fruition, the fee for Zlatan went from $66 million to $69 million. It doesn't sound like a big issue, but the fact is the deal created controversy surrounding how Barca swapped a Champions League winner in Eto'o for a guy that was bold, brash, and not a great team player, not to mention relatively unsuccessful in continental play. Still, things started well for Zlatan and Barcelona. His first La Liga goal was assisted by Messi, and they got all the way to the Champions League semi-finals in 2009-10...only to be beaten by Zlatan's former club, Inter...who later won the Champions League as part of their legendary treble 2009-10 season. The irony that Ibrahimovic left Inter in the hopes of winning a Champions League title and watching Inter do it without him must've left a bitter taste in the Swede's mouth. Zlatan would get some international trophies with Barca with the UEFA Super Cup and the Club World Cup victories in 2009. However, Zlatan's time with Barcelona was shrouded in his failure to truly mesh into the squad. Manager Pep Guardiola often used Zlatan as a sub rather than a starter. They had a verbal altercation following the semi-final loss to Inter, which Zlatan later revealed stemmed from disagreements over Messi's desire to play through the middle of the park rather than right-wing. Here is where the Zlatan side came out: he refused to switch positions because he didn't want to play behind Messi or anyone else as a striker. He and Guardiola beefed quite a bit, which set up Zlatan's move back to Italy.
In the 2010-11 season, Zlatan found himself back in Milan, just with the other team. After his verbal altercation with Pep, Barca loaned Zlatan to AC Milan, but this was a new Milan side that included players like Alex Pato, Ronaldinho, David Beckham, Andrea Pirlo, and Kevin-Prince Boateng. With this much talent, it was clear Milan was gearing up for a deep Champions League run. He won another Serie A title in 2010-11, but in the Champions League, Milan was defeated by Manchester United in the quarterfinals. Afterward, Milan eventually made Zlatan's signing permanent. The next season, Zlatan took over as the starting striker following Ronaldinho's return to Brazil and Beckham's move to the MLS. Though Milan showed some life in the Champions League because of Zlatan's performances, they still lost out in the quarterfinals to Barcelona. Zlatan was once again stuck in the limbo he found himself in: he won trophies in league play and domestic cups, but somehow couldn't find himself on the other side of Champions League glory. As he neared 30, with his reputation as a footballer and his personality known far and wide, Zlatan looked for another Champions League side looking for an extra edge. He found one in Paris.
Zlatan left AC Milan for Paris Saint-Germain in 2012, a move that enshrined who Zlatan is as a player immaculately. His scoring production at PSG wasn't like his first years in Italy or after Barcelona. Zlatan thrived in Paris. In his first five appearances, he scored 6 goals. He scored two goals in the 2012-13 Le Classique game between PSG and Marseilles and became only the third player in history to score in El Clasico, Le Classique, and the Milan derby. Zlatan established himself as a legend with PSG early on. 2012 was only the beginning of his accomplishments with the club. In October 2015, Zlatan held the title of PSG's top goalscorer. PSG and Zlatan won the Ligue 1 title from 2012 to 2016, another incredible domestic accomplishment by the Swede. All the doubts soccer fans and critics had about him seemed to dwindle off, considering how great his scoring production was in Paris. However, PSG never got over the hump in the Champions League. Either the team they faced got lucky and beat them, or Zlatan really wasn't as elite as he thought he was. Maybe he talked a big game and could win one or two trophies in domestic competitions, but his European triumphs were minimal. They didn't feel significant like a Champions League trophy would and it made people question his dominance as a player.
After leaving Paris, Zlatan signed a one-year deal with English club Manchester United. His time with United would end up being one his most successful seasons. It even included some European glory, just not the one he wanted. Zlatan served as starting striker for a United team going through a massive transition. The team was built up of aging stars like Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young while also full of youth talent like Marcus Rashford, Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard. In the Premier League, United would finish 4th but in the Europa League, Zlatan and his new club had the most success. Even at 35 years old, the Swede was crazy productive, scoring 28 goals in his first season. However, he picked up a serious knee injury in the Europa League quarterfinal at Anderlecht, forcing him to miss the rest of the 2016-17 season, but he was part of the United team that won the Europa League. This would be the last time Zlatan had the chance to taste some kind of glory in a UEFA tournament; the only problem was, it was the lower-tier club contest. Still, it was a sign that even out his prime, Zlatan could deliver his team a trophy. Coupled with United's EFL Cup win in 2016-17, his contributions were enough to resign him and gift him the No. 10 jersey following Wayne Rooney's departure to Everton in the 2017 offseason. So, Zlatan seemed slated to be United's fearless leader heading into the 2017-18 season, until that plan was derailed by the signing of Romelu Lukaku in the summer. Manager Jose Mourinho put Zlatan behind Lukaku in the striker's role, and Ibrahimovic found himself coming off the bench and playing less. Though slightly humbled, the Zlatan side didn't truly go away, and in January 2018, the Swede terminated the remaining months of his United contract.
He moved on to the MLS, where he played for LA Galaxy. He joined MLS during an exciting time as new expansion teams and extremely gifted players were gracing the pitch in America. Zlatan made his presence felt early on when he scored a goal from just past the half-line. It was clear how much more dominant he was than his teammates and opponents, and the Zlatan side relished it. The Ibrahimovic side didn't find that much success, sadly being eliminated from the MLS playoffs by LAFC, the newest expansion team. From 2018 to 2019, Zlatan spent two seasons proving he could still ball. His swagger was rejuvenated in Los Angeles, but he didn't want to stay. He felt he was still good enough for Europe's standards, and in January 2020, he signed a one-year deal with AC Milan, but this Milan team was nothing like that of 10 years ago. The club had endured many years of financial hardship, especially as Italian football dropped in quality and Juventus formed a vice grip around Serie A. When Zlatan rejoined Milan, they sat at 13th place, nowhere close to European qualification and their talent was slim. The coronavirus pandemic halted the 2019-20 season partially, but by the time of return to play, Zlatan was pretty much finished as a player. Time caught up with him as he became less featured and almost unused entirely.
For all his boldness and ultra-confident attitude, Zlatan Ibrahimovic definitely made himself known and respected throughout his career. He was a striker that all managers wanted, but his personality and ego often got in the way of his success. Still, he is always considered to be one of the best players and one of the funniest and unique personas in football. We probably won't see a player like Zlatan again and it is really a shame he didn't get the chance to win the Champions League. It's arguably the one trophy that would've placed him in the conversation of "greatest of all time," but you still have to acknowledge his success at Juventus, Inter, Milan, and PSG. Perhaps his teams were not strong enough or he wasn't clutch enough to deliver the dagger in the moments it mattered the most, but nobody has found words to disrespect Zlatan. He will be remembered by fans forever.
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