Ibrahimovic warns Chelsea about his improvement ahead of UCL clash

Matt McGeehan 08:48 09/03/2016
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  • Ready for battle: Zlatan Ibrahimovic (l) tusles with Cesc Fabregas.

    Paris Saint Germain talisman Zlatan Ibrahimovic has warned Chelsea he is better than ever ahead of a return to Stamford Bridge, but denied being eager for revenge.

    The 34-year-old Sweden striker was sent off in the first half of last season’s second leg between the clubs, which saw PSG progress to the quarter-finals on away goals.

    Ibrahimovic afterwards called Chelsea players “babies” for their role in his dismissal, believing Dutch referee Bjorn Kuipers had been hounded into the decision for a challenge on Oscar which was more clumsy than malicious.

    “From the last game here I never saw something like that before from mature players like that,” Ibrahimovic said.

    “It’s a new game, let’s play different. I never think about revenge and these things.

    “Hopefully I will stay on the pitch longer than the last time to have a possibility to do things I’m good at. (But) revenge, absolutely not. What happened in the past happened in the past.”

    Ibrahimovic, who has scored 23 goals in 23 Ligue 1 games this season, has been linked with a move to the Premier League when his PSG contract expires at the end of the season.

    The striker, who in November 2012 scored four goals for Sweden against England, was asked about his relationship with English football and his future.

    He said: “After my four goals my relation became perfect. Before there was no relation. “My future is I have another two months with PSG, then I have the Euros (with Sweden). Whatever happens after that – there is nothing after that.

    Likely line-ups.

    Likely line-ups.

    “I am not in discussion with nobody because for me it’s not the time. I’m not worried about the future, because for me the future looks good after the season I’m doing. People say I’m old. I’m only warming up.

    “I don’t believe it’s the end of my career. Age is just a number and I feel young, I feel very young. I never had better statistics than this.”

    In a distinguished career which has taken him to Ajax, Inter Milan, AC Milan and Barcelona, Ibrahimovic has yet to win the Champions League.

    He added: “It was almost an obsession, then I started to mature and get to know myself.

    “I have the possibility this year. If I can win it of course I will be very happy. I had luck to win a lot of trophies with a lot of fantastic clubs.

    “I will do my best to win it, but it will not change the player I am.”

    Meanwhile, Chelsea interim boss Guus Hiddink has defended Diego Costa’s behaviour and scoring record ahead of tonight’s tie.

    PSG’s social media team upped the ante on the eve of the clash with a video montage of masked super heroes titled ‘spot the fraud’, which also included Costa, who has been playing with a protective mask due to a broken nose.

    PSG boss Laurent Blanc warned his players to watch out for archantagonist Costa, who has scored 10 goals in 14 games under Hiddink, but has just one Champions League goal in two seasons and 14 games with the Blues.

    Costa, available after missing last Saturday’s draw with Stoke as a precaution over a minor tendon problem, has a reputation for riling opponents. He has never been sent off for Chelsea, although he has served two retrospective three-match domestic bans in his two seasons in London.

    “I’m very proud of him the way he’s playing and, going not over the edge, but he likes to fight in the real way of the game,” Hiddink said.

    “That’s what we like. I protect him and support him when he’s doing what he has done in my period at Chelsea.”

    Blanc added: “I’m a big fan of (Costa) as a player. And we know all about him as an individual, as a man. He’s someone who likes contact, likes to engage in a bit of provocation. But we’re used to it.

    “I’ll tell my players not to respond to that, to keep cool in the face of provocations. In order to perform very well you need to maximise what you’ve got and keep all 11 players on the pitch.”

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