Sixteen minutes to write a record, yet another record in a football career that has seen him excel in every European land. Zlatan Ibrahimovic, aged 36, and having recovered less than seven months after a knee ligament injury, has no plans to abdicate.
King Zlatan is there and he needed 16 minutes in the Champions League match between Basel and Manchester United (which saw the Swiss win 1-0). In fact, Wednesday 22 November was his official debut in the Champions League with the Red Devils: in Europe, Ibrahimovic had played last year, but in the Europa League, hurting himself, among other things, in the match. against Anderlecht on 20 April.
With this token, the 120th since the start of his career, the Swede becomes the first player in the history of the Champions League to play the big-eared cup with seven – let’s repeat seven – different teams: Ajax, Juventus, Inter, Barcelona, Milan, PSG and Manchester United.
On the pitch from the 2002-2003 season (that of AC Milan’s victory over Juventus in the Old Trafford final), Ibrahimovic has had a grumpy relationship with the Champions League: despite many shirt changes, he has never managed to get close to the idea of to be able to raise the trophy of the most important club competition in the world. And, in some cases, he ended the season with a dry mouth without scoring a single goal: in 2004-2005, first year at Juventus and 2006-2007 in his first season with the black and blue jersey of Inter.
Let’s enjoy, however, each “first goal” in the Champions League with the different jerseys of his career:
AJAX
Ibrahimovic debut with the Lancers in his Champions League debut. The first part of group D, Ajax – Lyon, was decided on 17 September 2002 by the Swede’s double. And what a shotgun! Ibrahimovic scored three more goals during the tournament (one also against Roma), before going out in the quarterfinals against Milan, in the unidentifiable match that ended 3-2.
JUVENTUS
The first season with the Old Lady, as seen, ends with a zero in the “goals scored” box. Ten appearances for Ibra, but not even one goal. The following year, 2005-2006, he placed three goals all in the first phase of group A, remaining dry in the second round and in the quarterfinals, where Juventus were killed out of Arsenal. His first goal with the bianconeri in the Champions League and against Rapid Vienna on 27 September 2005. Again, a truly remarkable goal.
INTER
First year in the Nerazzurri and the same script as during his experience at Juventus. Ibrahimovi misses the appointment with the goal that returns, in the year 2007-2008, also this time in group G on the second day, with the brace against PSV Eindhoven, on October 2, 2007. Ibra scores three more goals, remaining again at dry in the knockout phase: Inter, in fact, ushered by Liverpool.
BARCELONA
Winning the Champions League begins to be an obsession for Ibrahimovic who leaves Inter to play in the most successful club of this era, Barcelona. It is the year 2009-2010, the year that Inter fans will remember for the Triplete, mocking in the eyes of the Swede. In the Blaugrana team he only lasted one year, he scored four goals in the Champions League reaching the semifinals, the furthest point reached from passing away in his European career. His first goal was on 20 October 2009 in the historic and truly unthinkable defeat of his Barca against Rubin Kazan. And it is really worth reviewing all the actions of that meeting:
MILAN
It is the last big leap in Berlusconi’s history at Milan. The Rossoneri place a formation capable of winning the Scudetto in the 2010-2011 year, betting strongly on Ibrahimovic. On 15 September 2010, the Swede wets his Champions League debut with a brace at Auxerre. Just like with Ajax, so far the only club in which he scored on his debut, Zlatan makes his new fans fall in love. But not only that: his was his Rossoneri debut at San Siro.
PARIS SAINT GERMAIN
In 2012 Milan lost the pieces and two above all, Thiago Silva and Zlatan Ibrahimovic fly to Paris. In PSG, Zlatan, in full football maturity, stays for four seasons (never so long in a club) reaching insane numbers: 180 appearances, 156 goals and 61 assists. As well as with Ajax and Milan, also with the French team, Ibra scores on his debut in the Champions League. It is September 18, 2012 and he scores a 4-1 goal against Dynamo Kiev. The following year, 2013-2014, will be the most prolific for the Swedish striker who will place 10 goals in Europe.
Will Ibrahimovic also score with Manchester United
We are ready to update this article … and who knows maybe we will see him sensationally also at the 2018 World Cup. Sweden is there …
