Born in 1981 in Malmo, Sweden, Ibrahimovic is of Bosnian and Croatian descent. With 511 goals scored in 866 appearances for a number of famous European clubs such as Ajax, Juventus, Inter, AC Milan, Barcelona, PSG or MU… Ibrahimovic is considered one of the greatest strikers. in football history. Ibrahimovic’s success is also shown by the fact that the great “giant” of world football has amassed 34 noble titles in his playing career.

Ibra himself is the record holder for the Swedish national team when he scored the most goals for the Nordic team: 62 goals. Along with his pure professionalism, Ibra also makes an unforgettable impression through his behavior with a strong personality, even being willing to raise his voice to his coach. Despite his arrogance, Ibra still ended up losing painfully to Messi, who is both small in size and considered by many to be “gentle and obedient”.

It all started in the summer of 2009 when Ibrahimovic moved to Barca from Inter as a super rookie. It is important to know that Barca paid 40 million euros in cash plus the addition of Samuel Eto’o in exchange for the services of the Swedish superstar. Ibra’s conquest at the home team Nou Camp started like a dream. He scored almost every time he stepped on the field. Statistics at that time showed that Ibra scored in 7 of his first 9 appearances for Barca.

Ibra’s name has appeared all over many newspapers in Spain, especially newspapers considered “close to Barca”. In the stands at Nou Camp, Ibra’s name is always chanted with excitement by a large crowd. Ibra’s career is expected to explode brilliantly, he will reach the level of a super player, and can turn the Golden Ball dream into reality. However, that wonderful time was just like a short “honeymoon” for Ibra. The sweet dream soon turned into a nightmare. From relying on the Swedish striker in the first half of the season, coach Pep Guardiola has turned 1800 with the tall Swedish striker.

The problem turned out to lie with Argentine star Lionel Messi. In his autobiography titled “I am Zlatan”, Ibrahimovic pointed out that it was Messi who incited Pep Guardiola to pressure him. “I went to Barca and scored more goals than him. Then Messi told Pep that he wanted to play in the middle. Pep changed the formation from 4-3-3 to 4-5-1 with Messi playing right behind me. So all the light shines on Messi and I’m in the dark.”

Ibra’s endless resentment towards “Flea” (Messi’s nickname) is also mentioned in the 320-page book titled Misterio Messi (Messi’s Secret) by two journalists Sebastián Fest and Alexandre Julliard. According to what is mentioned in the book, Messi, then 22 years old, was a shy and quiet person. He never makes direct requests to others but often uses the phone to express his wishes.

While sitting on the Barcelona bus in the fall of 2009, Pep received a text message from Messi: “I feel like I don’t get respect at the team. So that…”. Messi’s vague message was like a signal that Pep had to choose between Messi or Ibra. This is considered the beginning of Ibra’s nightmare series.

When returning to the midfield position after Pep changed the lineup, Messi continued to find ways to isolate Ibrahimovic. Messi rarely coordinates with Ibrahimovic but often tries to circulate the ball with his La Masia teammates like Xavi and Iniesta. “I really want Xavi and Iniesta to pass the ball to my positions more. But in front of them there is only Messi. The three of them seemed to play ghosts with each other. I was really frustrated,” Ibra bitterly recalled.

As it was on the field, the atmosphere in the locker room was even worse. Accordingly, Ibrahimovic was almost isolated. While most Barca players secretly sided with Messi, others expressed a neutral attitude. Even more remarkable, when he had time, Messi didn’t even bother to talk to Ibrahimovic, whether on the training field or in the locker room. The situation became worse when Ibrahimovic was unfortunately injured, while Messi regained his best form by scoring 34 goals that season.

Those are the factors that contributed to accelerating Messi’s “ousting” of Ibra from Barca. “Messi is a star that no one can touch at Barca. Even though I’ve scored a lot of goals, the truth is I’m still just a pawn,” Ibra added. Because of this pressure, Ibra rebelled and moved to Milan in the summer of 2010.