He had to wait until February 26 and the 24th day of Serie A to play his first match of the season. Zlatan Ibrahimovic returned to competition with AC Milan on Sunday evening against Atalanta Bergamo (2-0), nine months after having surgery on his left knee.
The club, defending champion, also found Mike Maignan in the cage, after five months of absence. Now free of his calf injury, the Blues goalkeeper spent a quiet evening against a muzzled opponent and it was his compatriots Olivier Giroud and Theo Hernandez who unlocked this committed match. On a return from the first, the second volleyed from the left: his missile hit the post before entering after bouncing off the unfortunate goalkeeper Juan Musso (26th).
A huge clamor for Zlatan
Zlatan Ibrahimovic, for his part, entered in the 74th minute, in place of Olivier Giroud, greeted by an immense clamor from San Siro. Twelve minutes later, Junior Messias scored the 2-0 goal allowing AC Milan to reach a total of 47 points, the same number as Inter Milan, the current second in the championship.
“They give me the strength, the adrenaline and the motivation to continue, without the help of the tifosi it’s difficult”, commented after the meeting “Ibra”, on DAZN, about the reception of the supporters. “I feel good and it’s been a year and two months since I felt like today. I felt free to be able to do what I love: play football”, he added, recalling having “suffered a lot during the last six months of last season” due in particular to his knee pain. .
A great architect of AC Milan’s revival since his return to the club in January 2020, “Ibra”, 41, had surgery on May 25, just after the rossonero club won the scudetto. This intervention aimed to “definitively resolve the instability” of his left knee, which had been causing him pain for several months, “thanks to the reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament”, according to his club.
A goal expected since January 9, 2022
Despite his age and his painful joint, Ibrahimovic extended his contract last summer until June 2023. However, he has not yet announced his intentions at the end of the season. Handicapped throughout the end of last season by his knee, the Swede has not scored since January 9, 2022.
“We improve with each training session, today that’s what I miss, I only did three training sessions”, explained Ibrahimovic. The Swede also assured that his ambition, for the end of the season, was “to play all the matches” and not just to enter “for five or ten minutes” at the end of the match: “Whoever thinks like that is already finished. “His coach is warned.