Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Pep Guardiola at Barcelona: Ferrari problem explained in interview

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Ferrari problem with Pep Guardiola at Barcelona explained.

Retired Superstar football Zlatan Ibrahimovic will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the best attackers of the modern era.

The big-bodied Swedish player had a long and successful career that spanned more than 15 years and featured stops at some of the top clubs in Europe until recently hanging up his boots.

Ibrahimovic and Guardiola explained

Ibrahimovic's time at FC Barcelona and how things fell apart between him and then-manager Pep Guardiola are the only blemishes on his illustrious career.

The former AC Milan and PSG forward has never been one to hold back, and he has already made a lot of comments about why he and Guardiola never got along at Barcelona.

He recently discussed the bond between the two during their brief time working together in Catalonia in an interview with Piers Morgan.

Ibrahimovic acknowledged that Guardiola is a fantastic coach who has altered how the world views football.

Zlatan explains Messi incident led to a Ferrari problem

He acknowledged, though, that he had serious issues with the former Barcelona manager.

Zlatan spoke on the subject once more after previously discussing how Lionel Messi's ascension to Guardiola's key man hindered him.

Then, according to Zlatan, things started to go south when he was benched in later games without being given an explanation.

He said, “I also told him: ‘Hey, if I am arrogant, tell me, if I do something wrong, tell me, if I am not good enough, tell me, if you don’t like anything I do, tell me, I will solve the problem, I will leave.

"I am not here to create problems, I am here to achieve my dream’ and he didn’t answer me, but the matter went on well for 6 months.”

“I went up to him and said: can we talk amicably? I told him I’m not doing well. I think with the Messi situation I also need more space.

"You signed me, so I need my space to do what I’m good at, because the way you are playing now, I’m not good enough at that and it’s better to put other players in.”

“I was clear and frank. We spoke normally because I never had any problems with a coach before. It was my first time with him.

"He said to me at the end of the conversation in a cool way, ‘Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this’, I said, ‘It’s fine, very good’. Next game I’m a substitute.”

“The second game it’s a benching, the third game it’s a benching. I started trying to try to work harder to show myself. But then I realised it wasn’t about my performance. I think from my point of view Guardiola felt attacked.”

“The fourth match I was a substitute, and then I started to create confusion. That was not good for me, because I was in a situation that I did not create by my own choice.”

“I knew it would cause another problem, so I parked the car in front of his office. If you mess with me, I’ll mess with you. So I told him: If you want to play with fire, I’ll bring you fire, but I’ll burn you."

Zlatan and Guardiola relationship

From that point on, the relationship utterly declined, reaching an impasse where there were no longer any exchanges between the two.

The former striker continued by saying that when Guardiola refused to address the situation, he went on to brand him a "coward with no b**ls."

The former Barcelona star said during the interview that he had thrown a box of sporting goods in Guardiola's direction, although it had missed the latter.

The Swede also claimed that he hadn't spoken to Guardiola since their time spent together at Barcelona, but he stressed that he is pleased with how successful the manager has become.

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