Zlatan: Pep was a "spineless coward"

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Following Barcelona's semi-final exit in the Champions League to Mourinho's Internazionale side in 2010, Ibrahimovic spoke of how he confronted his manager in the dressing room. "I yelled: 'You haven't got any balls!' and worse than that I added: 'You can go to hell!' I completely lost it, and you might have expected Guardiola to say a few words in response, but he's a spineless coward. He just picked up the metal box, like a little caretaker, and then left, never to mention it again, not a word."

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The 31-year-old, who moved to Barcelona in a deal worth £57m in 2009, had been expected to compliment the then-European champions, but revealed in an extract in the Daily Mail how he was at odds with not only Guardiola, but the club philosophy as well: "I'd already got the impression that Barcelona was a little like being back at Ajax, it was like being back at school. None of the lads acted like superstars, which was strange. Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, the whole gang – they were like schoolboys. The best footballers in the world stood there with their heads bowed, and I didn't understand any of it. It was ridiculous.

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"Everyone did as they were told. I didn't fit in, not at all. I thought, just enjoy the opportunity, don't confirm their prejudices. So I started to adapt and blend in. I became way too nice. It was mental. I said what I thought people wanted me to say. It was completely messed up. I drove the club's Audi and stood there and nodded my head. I hardly even yelled at my team-mates any more. I was boring. Zlatan was no longer Zlatan."

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