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Photo: MAURIZIO BORSARI / BILDBYRÅN
How could it be otherwise, Zlatan Ibrahimovic decided the premiere of Serie A for Milan.
Old man, magician and two-goal shooter: Zlatan was the best on the field, perhaps the best in the entire first round in Italy. How is that possible? Haven’t you stopped asking yourself that question yet ?!
It was the Italian site Calciomercato who wrote it after the Europa League qualifying match against Shamrock Rovers on Thursday: “Of course, the first official goal of the season for Milan could not be scored by anyone other than Zlatan Ibrahimovic.”
It’s a habit that he created at league premieres as well. In 16 seasons in the five major European leagues, Zlatan Ibrahimovic has scored goals (11) or assists (4) in 15.
At the fall opening show against Bologna tonight, he was close after eleven minutes. In a fine collaboration with Davide Calabria, Ibrahimovic, very marked and with a shot that crashed just outside Skorupski in the rival goal, showed that he takes this season seriously.
“You have to talk to me!”
A few minutes later, he gave Hakan Çalhanoğlu a ball to the left in attack, but the Turk did not understand the Swede’s intentions and missed the run. Zlatan spread his arms in the direction of Çalhanoğlu and waved his hands in a kind of Pacman gesture in front of his face: “You have to talk to me!”
This AC Milan still has very little to do with the scared and slightly listless gang he joined last winter. Stefano Pioli’s team grew up alongside the Swede in the spring, the truth is that Zlatan pushed the others forward and up, and after the breaking of the crown, some of the old glory really did return. Milan have not been defeated after the covid – Bologna were defeated 5-1 in July – and it was a suite they did not intend to break at the series premiere at San Siro tonight.
Someone, on the other hand, has to break the deadlock. Zlatan Ibrahimovic did it with his forehead ten minutes before the break, on a balanced post by Theo Hernández. Two, three defenders and a jumper goalkeeper could do nothing when a 195-centimeter-long, almost 39-year-old Serie A icon exploded in the air and, only in its latitudes, headed 1-0 in the league debut of Milan.
Until around 30, Zlatan Ibrahimovic was drawn with a mediocre main game in terms of his height. It’s been a long time, but it’s a good reminder of how you’ve really developed as a footballer over the last ten years. Tonight, his winning skull opened the scoring against Bologna.
There is no point in looking for new ways to try to understand Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s ability to dissolve the established laws of time and space. The goal of Milan’s management was just a very common roar from that animal with which he loves to compare himself in time and outside of it.
Just a stain on the palette
And the scorer is still just a blot on the Swede’s palette in Milan: Zlatan leads the team from his floating position wherever he is needed in the offensive half. Participate in the structure of the game already in the center circle and challenges on the edges. Talk to others when their countries can’t find an address.
Distributor and game leader, team educator and lion: Soon-to-be 39-year-old Zlatan Ibrahimovic has many roles in Milan this fall.
After the break, the next big situation came immediately, when Alexis Saelemaekers took a post off Ibrahimovic in a quick substitution, but threw the ball directly into goalkeeper Skorupski.
It would be time before he took revenge. Three minutes, to be exact, when Ismaël Bennacer was stamped just inside the offensive penalty area. Penalty fee. Zlatan Ibrahimovic deflected a shot from the right that the visiting goalkeeper did well to deflect the ball. 2-0 and was fixed at the San Siro.
“If it had been twenty years ago, I would have scored four goals tonight,” Zlatan said after the match. It may be as it should be, but it was not a slightly older Ibrahimovic who arrived at the start of the season at San Siro, it was a younger Zlatan that I have seen for a long time. Hungry, cold, observant and unforgiving at the same time. After Dejan Kulusevski’s first goal yesterday for Juventus, Zlatan Ibrahimovic proved tonight how old is the youngest.
We have two Swedes with a mutual age difference of 19 years at the top of the Serie A shooting league. It shouldn’t work, but with Zlatan Ibrahimovic we have probably once and for all stopped wondering how that is possible.
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