Ibrahimovic reignites long-running feud with Guardiola

Zlatan Ibrahimovic has once again hit out at Pep Guardiola as their long-running feud from their Barcelona days continues.

The AC Milan forward, who is currently third-top scorer in Serie A this season with 10 goals behind Romelu Lukaku and Cristiano Ronaldo, was signed by Guardiola in the summer of 2009 after the Swede had spent three years at Inter Milan.

Ibrahimovic moved for nearly €66million (£54.1m), with Samuel Eto'o moving to the San Siro.

Things initially went well for the Ajax academy product, who scored seven goals in his first seven league games in a team that had just secured an impressive a highly coveted treble (La Liga, Champions League and Copa del Rey) in Guardiola's first season.

However, Ibrahimovic grew tired of what he saw as favouritism towards then-22-year-old superstar Lionel Messi before he was moved from his favoured central striking role and then shipped out on loan to AC Milan in the summer of 2010 for his first stint there, signing permanently the following year.

Speaking to La Gazzetta dello Sport in quotes carried by AS, Ibrahimovic aimed his latest dig at Guardiola: 'Barcelona was a phenomenal team. The first six months were great and then, due to the fault of the coach, things turned sour.'

In a book co-written by journalist Sebastian Fest, it is revealed that Messi messaged his boss while sitting on the team coach one day after a game to indicate his unease at his place in the pecking order following Ibrahimovic's signing. 'I see I'm not important anymore,' Messi wrote.

The Manchester City manager eventually decided to offload Ibrahimovic after a season and build the team around Messi, with Ibrahimovic branding Guardiola a 'coward' for allegedly never being straight with him about why he had fallen out of favour.

The decision saw Messi's goals tally rocket as he became the most idolised player on the planet, while Ibrahimovic has never forgiven Guardiola.

Ibrahimovic found the environment stifling and thought Barca's stars were far too scared to against the club's former midfielder, saying: 'When Guardiola spoke they would just sit there and nod. Like schoolboys in front of the teacher.'

Writing in his own book, he stated: 'When you buy me, you are buying a Ferrari. If you drive a Ferrari, you put premium petrol in the tank, you hit the motorway and you step on the gas. Guardiola filled up with diesel and took a spin in the countryside. He should have bought a Fiat.'

Ibrahimovic has also lambasted Guardiola for his man-management skills, telling Sky Sports Italia in late 2017: 'I'd walk into a room and he'd walk out. I'd go to meet him and he'd go somewhere else. I understood that there was something beyond football.

'The problem was his. It was he who hadn't solved the problem with me. I remember on my first day, he told me that the Barcelona players didn't turn up to training in Ferraris or Porsches.

'He'd already judged me then, but if you don't know a person, then you can't judge them. I had my experience with him, I don't know about others.

'I read the same thing had happened to (Mario) Mandzukic and (Samuel) Eto'o. He wasn't the worst coach I'd worked under, but he was certainly the most immature because a man solves his problems.

'I'd scored a lot of goals in my first six months and we won two Super Cups. The first six months were perfect.

'After that, we changed system and tactics, and it wasn't good for me, so the club told me to talk to Guardiola, and I told Guardiola that he'd sacrificed the other players for (Lionel) Messi. He told me he understood me.

'After that, he put me on the bench for the next game, the one after that and the one after that, and I thought, "He's solved the problem very well I see!" After that, he didn't talk to me or even look at me.'

Despite being in the twilight of his career, Ibrahimovic is enjoying a new lease of life in his second spell at the Rossoneri, with Stefano Pioli's team unbeaten and sitting top of Serie A as they target their first league title in 10 seasons.

The polarising talisman has also revealed his ideal XI, with former teammate at the Nou Camp Xavi making the cut.

Also included were Gianluigi Buffon, Alessandro Nesta, Fabio Cannavaro, Maxwell, Maicon, Pavel Nedved, Patrick Vieira, Zinedine Zidane, Diego Maradona and Ronaldo.