The rivalry between the Belgian and the Swedish dates back to when they met at Manchester United, where they competed for a place at the front
ITALY – The Derby of the Madonnina last Tuesday marked another chapter in the clashes between Romelu Lukaku i Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Amidst provocations, the players clashed in the match Inter Milan vs. Milan for the quarterfinals of the Italian Cup.
The intense discussion between the two, which was seen as a racist demonstration by the Swede, recalled the moments in Manchester United, Where both footballers played together between 2017 and 2018. Unable to perform in the best way, they competed for the starting spot most of the time.
When they were in the field side by side, the relationship was far from ideal. In 2019, the Belgian was announced as a reinforcement for Inter Milan, the club where Ibrahimovic won three Series A. Questioned about Lukaku in an interview with the newspaper Gazzetta dello Sport, the Swede revealed a bet he tried to make.
“I would say the following about Lukaku: his best weapon is strength. Technically he’s not very good, if he’d listened to me. I offered him £ 50 for every dominance he did.”
“He asked me what I would give him if I did it right, and I replied, ‘Nothing, it will only make you a better player.’ He never agreed. Maybe he was afraid of losing,” the Swede said.
Then one of his first goals with the shirt of the Inter Milan, Lukaku use their social media to say ‘there was a new king in town’. In 2020, when he returned to Milan, Ibrahimovic respond by saying ‘Milan never had a king, it has a God’.
The strikers will face each other again in the Derby of the Madonnina which will be played on February 21, now for the Italian Championship.
The debate over a possible racist phrase
During the first part of the match, which ended in a 2-1 victory for Inter, Lukaku e Ibrahimovic they argued, and almost went to blows. The situation did not get worse because the teammates and even the referee helped to separate them.
The Swedish striker, at the time of the fight, would have shot Lukaku: ‘go make your mie … voodoo, you will make your mier … voodoo! You are an idiot, ‘Ibrahimovic would have said.
The fact also refers to an episode involving the mother of Romelu Lukaku. When he arrived at Everton from Chelsea, the striker allegedly received advice from his mother, who allegedly consulted a voodoo seer, which was denied by the Belgian striker.
The fight, which happened at the end of the first stage, lasted after the whistle. On the way to the locker room, Lukaku tried to go after Ibra again. In English, he said, ‘Do you want to talk about my mother? Do you want to talk about my mother? ‘, And then in French he called him:’ Son of pu. ‘.
In the second stage, Ibrahimovic he received a second yellow card after a foul on Kolarov and was sent off. Lukaku scored the equalizer. With the classification, Inter advanced to the semifinals of the competition.