Injured and unable to win the Champions League

to 41 years old, Zlatan Ibrahimovic rushes through his final minutes as a professional soccer player. These, however, are more intermittent than he would have liked. After being important in achieving Milan’s “Scudetto” in 2021/22, he renewed for another season despite undergoing surgery in June. He wanted to try again in the Champions League: it’s the great title he lost (Besides the World Cup or Euros with Sweden, of course). But his return was more complicated than he expected: Just 144 minutes with Milan and a handful with the Swedish national team in March.

I’m afraid to retire

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“I’m afraid of retirement”This is what Ibrahimovic himself announced a few months ago, in an interview. Against Lychee, however, countless people noticed his body. He returned after the injury, but did not skip the warm-up. Trouble took him first to the locker room and then to the stands. In Italy, they expect him to be out for at least a month: roughly the rest of 2022/23.

Since the operation, he has missed 37 games this season And a lot of the time, he wasn’t able to play (despite being on the bench) because he wasn’t quite as competitive as his teammates or opponents. As Corriere della Sera points out, Since 2020 he has lost over 40% of matches… so it is inevitable that the idea of ​​retirement will start popping into his head.

“Retirement? I didn’t decide in one day to leave… I want to continue for as long as possible, and I don’t want to think about quitting. I don’t want to become one of those who get sad thinking I can go on without doing this. I will continue,” Ibra warned in 2021. After these words, good matches, goals, and a league title came, confirming the success of his mission to return to the “Calcio.”

withdrawal? I didn’t decide in one day to quit… I want to last as long as possible, and I don’t want to think about quitting.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

“We’ll win the scudetto,” he had warned when he arrived as a free agent at Milan, in 2020, after a trial in MLS that seemed, at the time, calling for him to retire. That was not the case. He returned to Serie A, scoring 37 goals and giving the Milan youngster the character they needed. Everyone in Milanello’s dressing room agrees that without the Swede this growth would not have been possible.

When he returned to Milan, it wasn’t a team he could beat, but he was understanding and tough.

Stefano Pioli

He has above average intelligence. When he returned to Milan, it was not a team that he could beat, but he was understanding and tough, ”admitted Pioli, coach of the“ Rossonero ”club. Possible without his personality.

The Champions League is an unattainable goal

If Milan win the Champions League in Istanbul on June 10, Zlatan Ibrahimovic will feel engaged and celebrate in style…but he won’t add the ultimate continental championship to his record. His great goal is at the gates again. He did not achieve it with Inter, nor with Juventus, nor with Paris Saint-Germain, nor with Barcelona, ​​nor with Manchester United… And he will not do it with Milan. This is the UEFA rule: without playing minutes, you will not be an official champion.

Therefore, Ibra is already “out”. And the Swede didn’t play in the group stage because he wasn’t registered because of the operation in June…but he didn’t register in February for the qualifiers either. He didn’t play anything. The technical staff and the medical team considered that he was not 100% ready to play matches of this size.

At Milan they only remember you if you win the Scudetto and the Champions League… They only have a few games left to remember us.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic

However, he knows his work goes beyond the pitch“At Milan they only remember you if you win the Scudetto and the Champions League… They only have a few games left to remember us,” Pioli admitted that Ibra told his teammates a few days ago.