Saturday’s Manchester derby will see two huge names in the world of football who endured a public falling out for all to see cross paths, and we are not talking about Mourinho and Guardiola.
No, we are instead talking about Pep Guardiola and a player whom he coached during his reign as Barcelona manager: Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
The Swedish striker spent a season with the Blaugrana in 2009-10, but a rocky relationship with the Spanish tactician eventually saw him pack his bags and leave for AC Milan.
The 34-year-old has opened up about his indifferences with Guardiola to the media on several occasions, even going as far as to attack the Spaniard in the striker’s autobiography.
Pep has now admitted to being unhappy with Zlatan’s actions. Speaking ahead of Saturday’s early kick-off, the manager insisted he on the other hand -- unlike the Man United ace -- said everything to the former PSG star face to face.
The Guardian quote the Man City boss as saying: “Ibrahimovic used his book to explain what he believes, he had some things to say. Always I was clear. Whatever I said to him I spoke face to face. I never used the media to explain what I wanted from him on the pitch.”
Guardiola, however, does still hold high praise for the Red Devils forward, hailing the Swede as “an amazing talent”.
“I have a lot of respect for Zlatan and what he has done in the football world and his career. He has had a big impact everywhere he has been and he is an amazing talent, one of the best around. The best players always have an impact. The big players always bring their talent to a club immediately. You can see they don’t need time to adapt to a new league or understand another country.”
Ibrahimovic already has three goals to his name after three games in the English Premier League. Given his recent taunt aimed at Claudio Bravo, one can easily deduce that Zlatan is eager to score more when the Citizens arrive at Old Trafford.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Follow the game on-the-go
Download our iOS and Android apps to follow soccer on-the-go. It comes packed with features - live scores, fixtures, results, tables, line-ups, stats, TV schedule and much more! Sorry, no live streaming within the app.
