AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic is anarchic - Barcelona's Xavi

AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic is anarchic, says Barcelona's Xavi

Sep 13, 2011 8:54:00 AM

The influential midfielder has voiced his belief that the Sweden international didn't fit in at Camp Nou and added that he's much happier at his current club

Barcelona midfielder Xavi has voiced his opinion that AC Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic did not succeed at Camp Nou because the Catalans' more attacking style of play did not suit the Sweden international.

The 29-year-old forward joined Barcelona from Inter in the summer of 2009, but failed to match the high expectations in La Liga. He then returned to Serie A last year, moving to Milan, initially on loan, before joining the Serie A champions on a permanent deal worth €24 million in June.

"Zlatan Ibrahimovic is anarchic. At Barcelona, you have to play for the team for the full 90 minutes," Xavi was quoted as saying in La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"His style of play better suits the Italian league. There they have six to seven players who mainly think about their defensive duties and three attacking players who can focus on creating things without worrying about defending.

"We still text each other every now and then. He is very happy with life in Milan. He was happy here as well, but Barcelona play a different kind of football."

Ibrahimovic will not feature for Milan in Tuesday night's Champions League Group H encounter against his former employees Barcelona at Camp Nou after picking up an injury in training on Monday.

Xavi then went on to discuss the exclusion of Filippo Inzaghi from Milan's Champions League squad and the downfall of Italian football in recent years.

"His absence from Milan's squad surprised me, but it's better for us. He is a real heavyweight and always causes a lot of problems. I feel sorry for him that he wasn't included, because he's had such an impressive career.

"Italian football has been on the decline a bit in the past couple of years. I think it's because of the Calciopoli scandal. It used to be the best league in the world, but it's no longer like that. It's not so much that football in Serie A has declined, but it's more a matter of an image problem."

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