‘Big Ghost in a Circus’—Zlatan Ibrahimovic Weighs in on Messi, Inter Miami Thrashing | OneFootball

Zlatan Ibrahimović has slated Inter Miami in his defense of Lionel Messi following the team’s elimination from the FIFA Club World Cup.

Having pulled off an unlikely group-stage victory over Porto to progress to the knockout bracket, Miami fell 4–0 to reigning European champions Paris Saint-Germain in the round of 16.

That ends their tournament with $21.05 million in prize money, still far more than the club could earn from a championship-winning season in Major League Soccer.

Ibrahimović hasn’t always come across as the greatest Messi fan over the years, perhaps frustration left over from his own disappointing season at Barcelona in 2009–10 when Pep Guardiola’s all-conquering side was built around Messi, Xavi Hernández and Andrés Iniesta.

But, after seeing his former club wipe the floor with Miami, the retired Swede piled all of the blame on Messi’s teammates, diverting it away from the eight-time Ballon d’Or winner.

“Messi’s defeat? No, don’t talk about the defeat as if it was his fault! Messi didn’t lose, Inter Miami did! Have you seen this team?” Ibrahimović said immediately afterwards, via Footmercato.

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“Messi plays among statues, not teammates! If he was in a real team, in Paris, in Manchester [City], in any big team, you would have seen the real lion.

“Messi only plays because he loves the game, because he can still do what 99% of players can’t! But he’s surrounded by those who run as if they were carrying bags of cement! There are no coaches, no stars, not even players who understand how to move without the ball!

“You want to blame Messi? If he plays with [Cristiano] Ronaldo, with [Kylian] Mbappé, with [Erling] Haaland, with Zlatan. Then you can talk! But today? No, no, no.

“That’s not the Messi I know, he’s a big ghost who plays in a circus! But be careful, if you give him a real team, he’ll burn the stadium down again! Because quite simply. Messi is still Messi, but today? It’s not his defeat, it’s the defeat of Inter Miami and football.”